The Cure Starts Now Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 260269131
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Phone
- 5137724888
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Brain Disorders
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,655,854
- Expenses
- $8,438,186
- Assets
- $4,317,740
- Liabilities
- $3,686,759
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BROOKE DESSERICH (CEO & TREASURER)
Highest reported compensation
- MIKE WEINER (CIO): $142,280 total reported compensation
- KEITH DESSERICH (CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD): $140,831 total reported compensation
- BROOKE DESSERICH (CEO & TREASURER): $78,643 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To educate, aid, and fund cures for cancer, starting first with pediatric brain cancer.
What it reported doing in 2025
The brain cancer symposium (formerly dipg/dmg/medulloblastoma symposium) is the world's foremost and largest international medical research conference focusing on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (dipg), diffuse midline glioma (dmg) and medulloblastoma. Researchers, doctors, families and foundations come from across the globe to participate in this innovative event. The biennial symposium originated in 2011 and has continued to grow over the years. In 2025 in banff british columbia, canada, more than 200 of the leading experts, researchers and doctors in dipg, dmg, and medulloblastoma attended. The brain cancer symposium brings the researchers, doctors, foundations and families together in this collaborative event is a unique approach to creating and funding new and innovative research.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 67% of its reported program spending out as 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Pass
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- 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: 57.1%; rating input score 57; 11th 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: -49.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 14 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.
- Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 57/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.