Stupid Cancer

Legal name: Stupid Cancer Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202027782
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, US
Phone
212-619-1040
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,632,737
Expenses
$1,572,323
Assets
$2,645,513
Liabilities
$333,998

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALISON SILBERMAN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALISON SILBERMAN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $191,555 total reported compensation
  • CHELSEA DONAHUE (MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MISSION AND STRATEGY): $107,550 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Stupid Cancer is the leader in building the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer community, ending isolation, and making cancer suck less. Stupid Cancer, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, is the leader in building the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer community, ending isolation, and making cancer suck less. With your support, we can help members of our AYA community from across the country to ‘Get Busy Living.’ Our Mission Get Involved. Learn About Our Mission & Work Our Programs Stupid Cancer Stories Our ever-growing Stupid Cancer Story Library provides a window into the experiences of other adolescent and young adult patients, survivors, caregivers, and professionals at any stage of the cancer journey. Learn More.

What it reported doing in 2025

Consists of cancercon, stories, webinars, and meetups. Cancercon is an annual event that gathers individuals from all over the world to foster an incredible community of patients, survivors, caregivers, advocates, and professionals all impacted by adolescents and young adults (aya) cancer. Cancercon is an opportunity to learn, share, and meet others who face the unique challenges presented by aya cancer. The organization runs a story sharing platform on their website to help resource and encourage other cancer patients and survivors. Webinars are interactive, educational sessions on topics important to the community and hosted by experts. Meetups are gatherings that bring together the community, online and in-person to connect with one another.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.1%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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: 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: 3.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.68; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 66.1% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.