Where Does $100 to the Alzheimer’s Association Go (2022)?

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 $502 million in 2022 (compared to $405 million in 2021, $403 million in 2020 and $390 million in 2019), primarily from contributions, gifts, and grants ($460 million including $27 million from the government).

Expenses totaled $433 million – 88% of revenue  (including $3 million in depreciation)  representing 90% of revenue, and can be categorized as follows:

• $199 million (40% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 85 million (17% of revenue):  Grants
• $ 63 million (12% of revenue):  Office-related Expenses
• $ 42 million (8% of revenue):  Fees for Services (primarily other with no detail provided)
• $ 34 million (7% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $ 17 million (3% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences
• $  3 million (1% of revenue):  Other Expenses

The largest expense for the Alzheimer’s Association is compensation for the 2,276 employees who received $199 million, which equates to an average compensation of $87,000.  340 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the most highly compensated employee reported to be Harry Johns, the ex President and CEO who received $1,468,134 in compensation (although he left the organization in Nov, 2021).

Grants totaled $85 million (compared to $66 million in 2021, $52 million in 2020 and $53 million in 2019) and were primarily made to domestic medical schools, foundations, research institutes, and medical centers. The 12 largest domestic grants were awarded to:

• $10 million:  Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, of Chicago, IL
• $ 7.9 million:  Wake Forest University Sciences, of Winston-Salem, NC
• $ 3.0 million:  University of Southern California, of LA, CA
• $ 2.6 million:  Washington University, of St Louis, MO
• $ 2.2 million:  The Regents at the University of California, of San Francisco, CA
• $ 1.5 million:  University of South Carolina, of Columbia, SC
• $ 1.5 million:  American Brain Foundation, of Minneapolis, MN
• $ 1.5 million:  American College of Radiology, of Reston, VA
• $ 1.3 million:  Columbia University Medical Center, of NY, NY
• $ 1.3 million:  Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai, of NY, NY
• $ 1.3 million:  SC Department of Aging, of Columbia, SC
• $ 1.2 million:  Massachusetts General Hospital, of Boston, MA

The purpose of the grants were not visible on the Form 990. What is important to note is that only 17% of revenue was 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, given the organization raised $100 million more in 2022 than in 2021.

Office-related expenses is the third largest expense ($63 million or 12% of revenue) for the organization with general office expenses and occupancy the primary office expenses.  And, finally, $42 million was spent on fees for outside vendors (primarily “other” with no detail provided), and $34 million (or 7% of revenue) was spent on advertising and promotion.

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

$100:  Revenue

-$ 40:  Compensation

-$ 12:  Office-related Expenses

-$  7:  Advertising and Promotion

-$  8:  Fees for Services

-$  3:  Travel and Conferences

-$  1:  Other Expenses

-$ 71: Subtotal Expenses (Comp, Office, Travel, Conferences, Advertising, Fees, and Other)

  $ 29:  Revenue Remaining

-$ 17: Grants

$   12:  Revenue Remaining:  To General Fund

As illustrated above, most revenue goes towards compensation, office-related expenses, travel and conferences, advertising and promotion, and fees for services. $17 out of $100 was spent on grants while $12 out of every $100 (which translates to $59 million) was added to the general fund in 2022.

At year-end, the Alzheimer’s Association had $320 million in net assets (compared to $355 million at the beginning of the year). Although the organization spent $59 million less than they raised, the organization also reported $90 million in unrealized losses on the sale of investments.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2022), click here.