10 Key Things to Know about St Jude’s

Wrapping your head around St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee is a challenge so here are ten (10) key pieces of information garnered from the Form 990 (the tax returns submitted to the IRS) that provide key details about St Jude:

1. When people think of St. Jude’s, they often associate the organization with the children’s research hospital but St Jude’s is actually two organizations:  St Jude Childrren’s Research Hospital (St. Jude) and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC).
2. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (St Jude) is the 77-bed children’s hospital that provides research and medical care.
3. American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) is the fundraising arm; an organization that exists to raise funds for St. Jude.
4. Most non-profits do not separate fundraising from services but St. Jude does, so both organizations need to be analyzed because St. Jude’s relies on ALSAC for the majority of it’s revenue and has a beneficial interest in the organization.
5. ALSAC raised $2.4 billion (compared to $1.9 million the prior year) in 2020.
6. ALSAC has historically spent 25-30% of revenue raised on fundriaising.  In 2020, ALSAC spent $625 million (26% of revenue) on fundraising expenses.
7. ALSAC gave St Jude’s $997 million (42% of revenue) in 2020.
8. ALSAC has historically put hundreds of millions annually in savings but in 2020, the organization allocated $781 million in savings.
9. ALSAC has $8 billion in net assets, most of which is in liquid assets.  St Jude, which has a beneficial interest in ALSAC (meaning the $8 billion in assets) had $9 billion in net assets by the end of 2020.
10. St Jude, the hospital, has historically spent less than they have received from ALSAC meaning they have also accumulated significant net assets (see previous statement above).

The biggest takeaway from the above information is why St Jude isn’t spending more on helping sick children and their families rather than sitting on $9 billion?