Scripps Research

Legal name: The Scripps Research Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330435954
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
La Jolla, CA, United States
Phone
(858) 784-1000
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Biomedicine, Bioengineering Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$698,624,318
Expenses
$537,453,981
Assets
$1,460,616,898
Liabilities
$306,765,344

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER G SCHULTZ (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER G SCHULTZ (PRESIDENT/CEO): $1,859,240 total reported compensation
  • ERIC TOPOL (PROFESSOR/EXEC VP): $1,085,635 total reported compensation
  • CAROLINE MOON (CFO): $898,368 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Scripps Research is a nonprofit research institute that combines world-class fundamental and translational research to accelerate the development of innovative new medicines, and reinvests revenues generated from those new medicines into research. Scripps Research provides tremendous resources to support your personal enrichment and career goals. We want you to flourish. Prior to your arrival, you can learn about the culture and activities available in the communities surrounding our La Jolla, California campus. Then, once you're here, you'll discover a number of campus interest groups where you can make new acquaintances and begin establishing a peer network. The knowledgeable staffs in our Human Resources, Counseling and International Services offices can answer any of your questions as you get settled. And our Career & Professional Development Office provides unparalleled...

What it reported doing in 2024

Tsri is committed to educating, training and inspiring the scientists of tomorrow. The institute's skaggs graduate school of chemical and biological sciences, ranked one of the ten best graduate programs in the country, empowers students to make high-impact discoveries at the interface of chemistry and biology. Students in the skaggs graduate school are immersed in intensive laboratory research from day one and pursue ambitious investigations across scientific disciplines. Graduates of the school become educators at top universities and research institutes, thought leaders within government departments and innovators at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Postdoctoral associates arrive at tsri from all over the globe, seeking to expand their knowledge and training by working alongside our world-renowned scientists. The scripps fellows program identifies individuals with an outstanding record of graduate research and moves them into their own laboratories, allowing them to leapfrog their postdoctoral years of study and begin pushing the frontiers of scientific discovery.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $42.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 34th 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: 23.1%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.72; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 73% of revenue deployed · 92% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $494.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.9M · 29 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.9M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 155 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 145 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.