Lymphoma Foundation of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521662087
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Phone
7344242000
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$79,757
Expenses
$76,329
Assets
$448,983
Liabilities
$16,800

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BELITA COWAN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RONALD JOCHIM (SENIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $27,000 total reported compensation
  • PETER ZETLIN (TREASURER/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE): $9,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We are a national charity helping lymphoma and leukemia patients, children, and families: support services, counseling by registered nurses, travel aid, medical research, doctor referrals and educational programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

LFA gives financial grants and awards to researchers and scientists at leading universities and at the National Cancer Institute. We support research to find the causes of lymphoma and to develop a cure. Recent grants include National Cancer Institute, Harvard/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center. LFA wrote the most comprehensive research report on pesticides and lymphoma, peer reviewed by eminent lymphoma specialists in the United States. LFA research on solvents and lymphoma is the #1 search result on google. LFA both sponsors and attends health conferences as panelists and speakers. LFA works with CancerCare to co-sponsor teleconferences on the subject of new research in the treatment of lymphoma.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.4%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 98.5%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.88; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 47.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.4% of revenue deployed · 98.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $75K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $27K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.