National Brain Tumor Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043068130
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Newton, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6179249997
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $15,062,192
- Expenses
- $13,397,744
- Assets
- $19,726,326
- Liabilities
- $1,126,361
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID ARONS (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID ARONS (CEO): $359,892 total reported compensation
- ASHLEY BRENNAN (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $287,139 total reported compensation
- JOHN HIGGINS (MANAGING DIRECTOR, BTIF): $252,802 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
National brain tumor society unrelentingly invests in, mobilizes, andunites our community to discover a cure, deliver effective treatments, and advocate for patients and care partners.
What it reported doing in 2025
Our connect strategy convenes, educates, and unites the brain tumor community. We bring stakeholders together, to address barriers to the development of new treatments and better health care. Nbts leads several national awareness campaigns to educate the public about brain tumors and the importance of reducing the burden of them. We equip patients and care partners with tools and resources to navigate every step of their unique health care journeyfrom understanding their diagnosis and building their medical team to making decisions about treatment. We organize events that bring the brain tumor community together to honor, learn, develop meaningful relationships, turn grief into action, and fuel momentum for our cause. Our support groups foster connections showing patients and care partners that they are not alone.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 50
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 84.5%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $13.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.1%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 84.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $360K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $431K reported
- Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 13 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.