Life Science Cares Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812435939
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6176375052
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,525,481
Expenses
$11,120,153
Assets
$11,977,275
Liabilities
$1,826,310

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH MACDONALD (CLERK & CEO, LSC NATIONAL)
  • AISHA BARO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BAY AREA)
  • MORGAN BERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PHILLY)
  • ELIZABETH FASSBERG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH MACDONALD (CLERK & CEO, LSC NATIONAL): $302,322 total reported compensation
  • AISHA BARO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BAY AREA): $294,695 total reported compensation
  • MORGAN BERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PHILLY): $241,165 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Life science cares activates the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry and partners with nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequality in our communities. Lsc serves not only as a grant-making organization, but also a committed community engaging to help solve societal problems through a combination of volunteerism and thought partnership.

What it reported doing in 2024

Service organization support: life science cares, inc. Provides human capital, in-kind donations and financial resources (donations / grants) to local partner service organizations that have the same common goal, to help fight poverty in the surrounding community. Annual grantmaking: lsc provides grants to carefully vetted, local nonprofit organizations doing critical work that best aligns with our focus areas. Basic needs - access to food, healthcare, mental health services, and safe shelter education - access to learning critical skills in school, stem programs, and higher education opportunity - access to jobs and mentorship, helping vulnerable adults to earn a living wage health equity - innovative, community-based solutions that improve health outcomes and foster vibrant, resilient communitiescommunity engagement: lsc builds deep relationships with grantees and contributes service via volunteerism. The organization works closely with corporate partners to create community engagement plans for staff.thought partnership: lsc helps to bring big ideas to life through active thought partnership amongst industry leaders, nonprofit partners, and our strategic fundraising efforts.building equity: lsc's programs aim to build equity in our communities. Project onramp connects under-resourced college students with paid summer internships in the life sciences, helping to bridge the opportunity gap for promising young people. The organization partners with biotech and pharma companies, allowing students to access relevant work experience, explore career paths, and build networks.one-to-onea curated networking platform that supports under-resourced students and job seekers to build social capital within the industry.since its founding in 2016, lsc has partnered with life science companies across the country and made grants to many deserving nonprofits. "caring actively" makes a difference and includes significant financial support from many life science companies, countless volunteer hours committed, placing students in paid internships and contribution goods and services to community partners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 69% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.5%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.08; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 34.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 30.9% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.5% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $302K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $280K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 97 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 96 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.