Pedal the Cause

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, over 3,800 adults and children participated in pedal the cause, supported by 700 volunteers, who together raised over $5.0 million to fund cancer research. Over the past 16 years, pedal the cause has cumulatively donated $56 million supporting 255 adult and pediatric cancer research projects. For every $1 pedal the cause donates to cancer research, researchers have successfully attracted significant additional external funding to further their research, averaging $14 for every $1 initial award. In 2025, pedal the cause effectively distributed 85% of its revenue to program services. (continued on schedule o)major breakthroughs made possible by pedal the cause funds include the development of dna and peptide vaccines for multiple cancer types, cancer googles to help surgeons see cancer cells, immunotherapy harnessing our body's 'natural killer' cells and cutting-edge research in the understanding of cancer stem-cells. Pedal the cause funds have been instrumental in obtaining spore (specialized programs of research excellence) grants in leukemia and pancreatic cancer, which lead a national group of experts in collaborative research. Pedal the cause funded clinical trials are a key component of the robust clinical trial program at siteman cancer center, which ranks as the largest cancer clinical trials program in the midwest and third largest in the country. Significant 2025 external funding included: lung cancer & smoking cessationli-shiun chen, md, mph, scd and aimee james, phd, mph received a sip rda award in 2020 for their project, "implementing multilevel smoking cessation interventions to reduce rural cancer disparity." their research aimed to reduce the high smoking rates and associated cancer disparities in rural southern Illinois by developing a multi-level approach to help patients quit smoking. With pedal the cause support, the team created a cost-effective smoking cessation model that connected two to three times more patients with treatment and achieved three times greater quit success than previous approaches, improving cancer prevention efforts across rural communities. Building on these results, the team leveraged their work into a prestigious six-year ug3/uh3 award from the national cancer institute (nci) to expand precision tobacco treatment for cancer survivors. $6.7 million in national cancer institute funding received in 2025. Hematologic/blood canceryoon-a kang, phd received a sip rda award in 2025 for her project, "targeting myeloid-biased multipotent progenitor to rebalance lineage output in mpns." the project focuses on developing a new treatment strategy for myeloproliferative neoplasms (mpns) by targeting multipotent progenitor 3 (mpp3) cells, which play a key role in the overproduction of blood cells seen in these cancers. Dr. Kang's research is investigating how regulating mpp3 blood cell production mechanisms could form the foundation of a broadly effective therapy for mpn patients regardless of their specific genetic mutation. $860,000 in american cancer society funding to be received in 2026. Breast & ovarian cancer preventionjohn krais, phd received a sip rda award in 2024 for his project, "tmej and brca1 mutant tumor development." his research investigates how dna damage accumulates and is repaired in cells carrying brca1 mutations, with the goal of preventing these high-risk cells from becoming cancerous. By studying a dna repair pathway known as polymerase theta-mediated end joining (tmej), dr. Krais is laying the groundwork for a potential new cancer prevention strategy for individuals with inherited brca1 and brca2 mutations. The promising preliminary data generated through pedal the cause funding led to multiple competitive research awards that will accelerate this work toward future clinical applications. $2.45 million in external funding received in 2025, including an r35 award from the national institute of general medical sciences, an ovarian cancer research fund award, and a can

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
• Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
• Fundraising efficiency: $9.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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; 63rd 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: -5.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings