The Hope Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742655302
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Phone
(734) 492-0277
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Voluntary Health Associations & Medical Disciplines N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$25,657,637
Expenses
$22,729,375
Assets
$64,516,032
Liabilities
$16,796,306

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHANNA HORN MSW (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHANNA HORN MSW (PRESIDENT & CEO): $330,425 total reported compensation
  • DANA SPARKS (DIRECTOR OF PC & OPERATION): $206,173 total reported compensation
  • MORGAN COX (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $171,432 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Hope Foundation supports SWOG Cancer Research Network in conducting cancer clinical trials and training the next generation of cancer researchers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Support research and education, including spring and fall 2025 group meetings of swog. Formerly the southwest oncology group, swog is one of five cooperative groups in the nci's national clinical trials network.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 19th 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: 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: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.84; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $20M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $330K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $298K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.