Where Does $100 to the Alzheimer’s Association Go (2019)

The Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association is commonly referred to as the Alzheimer’s Association. A tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) 3 whose goal is to eliminate Alzheimers Disease through research but also offer support, information/public awareness, and education on the disease, the Alzheimer’s Association raised $390 million in 2019, primarily from contributions, gifts, and grants ($366 million including $24 million from the government).

Expenses totaled $387 million and can be categorized as follows:

• $182 million (47% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 65 million (17% of revenue):  Office-related Expenses
• $ 53 million (14% of revenue):  Grants
• $ 27 million (7% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences
• $ 26 million (6% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $ 26 million (6% of revenue):  Fees for Services (primarily other with no detail provided)
• $  8 million (2% of revenue):  Other Expenses

The largest expense for the Alzheimer’s Association is compensation for the 2,620 employees who received $182 million, which equates to an average compensation of $70,000.  249 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the most highly compensated employee reported to be Harry Johns, the President and CEO who received $1,014,248 in compensation in 2019.

Office-related expenses is the second largest expense for the organization with general office expenses and occupancy the primary office expenses.

Grants totaled $53 million and were primarily made to domestic med schools, foundations, research institutes, and medical centers for program support.  What is important to note is that only 14% of revenue is awarded in grants. Given that research holds the answer to eliminating or treating Alzheimers Disease, it is surprising that more revenue is not allocated to research.

Using the above information, every $100 in revenue received by the Alzheimer’s Association was spent as follows:

$100:  Revenue

-$ 47:  Compensation

-$ 17:  Office-related Expenses

-$  7:  Travel and Conferences

-$  6:  Advertising and Promotion

-$  6:  Fees for Services

-$  2:  Other Expenses

-$ 85: Subtotal Expenses (Compensation, Office, Travel, Conferences, Advertising, Fees, and Other)

$ 15:  Revenue Remaining

-$ 14: Grants

$   1:  Revenue Remaining:  To General Fund

As illustrated above, most revenue goes towards compensation, office-related expenses, travel and conferences, and advertising and promotion.

At year-end, the Alzheimer’s Association had $263 million in net assets (compared to $256 million at the beginning of the year). This improvement was attributable to not spending as much as they received and also to unrealized gains on investments.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2018 for the year ending June 30, 2019), click here.