Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208009370
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
La Jolla, CA, USA
Phone
8588691411
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,846,278
Expenses
$4,529,170
Assets
$81,338,654
Liabilities
$42,316,512

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDWARD HOLMES (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • LOUIS R COFFMAN (VICE PRESIDENT & COO & SECRETARY)
  • KIM WITMER (VICE PRESIDENT & CFO)
  • ROBIN SAMIT (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY (THRU 3/25))

People named in this filing

  • EDWARD HOLMES (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • MALIN BURNHAM (BOARD CHAIR)
  • T DENNY SANFORD (BOARD VICE CHAIR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The sanford consortium is a collaboration among five preeminent life science research institutions formed to enable renowned scientists with expertise in stem cell and regenerative medicine research to collaborate to seek transformative discoveries and breakthrough medical advances.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2025, scientists from the sanford consortium's five member institutions - la jolla institute for allergy and immunology, salk institute for biological studies, sanford burnham prebys medical discovery institute, scripps research, and the university of California, san diego - continued research into harnessing the regenerative powers of stem cells to discover treatments and cures for many of the world's most challenging diseases, including alzheimer's disease, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries. Published research by consortium scientists advanced the base of knowledge available to the international community of stem cell researchers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 6.5%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 17.96; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.