Roswell Park Alliance Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
161391608
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone
7168454444
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,932,684
Expenses
$34,090,572
Assets
$162,800,389
Liabilities
$29,245,255

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cindy Eller (Executive Director/Senior Vice President)
  • Tammy Lightcap (Vice President of Finance & Operations)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cindy Eller (Executive Director/Senior Vice President): $511,973 total reported compensation
  • Tammy Lightcap (Vice President of Finance & Operations): $237,970 total reported compensation
  • Kim Guido (Director of Individual Gifts and Donor Stewardship): $189,834 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Roswell Park Alliance Foundation's purpose is to maximize dollars available for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center's most promising lifesaving research, treatment and prevention programs, while supporting the psychosocial needs of patients and families touched by cancer.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Foundation supports robust cancer research programs by disease site and key areas such as Cell Stress and Biophysical Therapies, Developmental Therapeutics, Genetics and Genomics, Population Sciences, and Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy as these research programs relate to finding cures for all types of cancer. Donations made to the Foundation are administered to targeted cancer research programs as indicated. Grants are awarded through our Scientific Advisory Committee, a competitive peer-reviewed process where 25 physicians and scientists select the most promising studies showing the greatest potential to obtain extramural peer-reviewed research funding with the goal to find cures and save lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: -3.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.78; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.1% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $28.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $512K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $361K reported
  • Consistency: 51 of 51 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.