Skip to content

Recent Articles

11
Apr

Moby: “Food Stamps Shouldn’t Pay for Junk”

I have a love-hate relationship with the Wall Street Journal. One of the most respected newspapers in the world, the Wall Street Journal was my go-to newspaper for decades but since Murdoch bought the paper in 2007, I’ve reluctantly embraced it.

The news and personal lifestyle information is always interesting while the editorials often frustrate me with their conservative, big brother take on politics and culture.  But not yesterday when an editorial entitled Food Stamps Shouldn’t Pay for Junk by Moby was printed. Read more »

9
Apr

Executive Compensation at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) based in Rye Brook, New York with 1,302 employees who received total compensation of $97.8 million, which equates to an average of $75,000 per individual. However, the IRS Form 990 reports that 164 individuals received more than $100,000 in compensation in the year ending June 30, 2017.

The most highly compensated individuals (12) were compensated $4.1 million (an average of $342,000 each): Read more »

7
Apr

Where Does $100 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Go?

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) whose mission is to “cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s Disease, and Myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. To do this, LLS primarily focuses on three major programs:

  • Patient and Community Services
  • Research Programs
  • Public Health Education

According to the IRS Form 990 (2016) for the year beginning July 1, 2016 and ending June 30, 2017, the following key information was reported: Read more »

5
Apr

Top Ten Financial Tips to Know About St. Jude’s

St. Jude’s is one of the most popular non-profit organizations in the country because the charity’s mission appeals to donors:  they treat and help children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. But, before making donations, donors should understand that St. Jude’s is actually two organizations:

  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc. (Hospital)
  • ALSAC – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc. (ALSAC)

ALSAC stands for the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities and “exists for the sole purpose of raising funds and building awareness to support the current and future needs of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Inc” while the Hospital treats and helps the children along with their families. The Hospital has a beneficial interest in the assets of ALSAC but the organizations are separate non-profit 501 (c)(3) entities with specific functions: ALSAC raises funds while the Hospital provides the treatment.

Over the past 6 years, ALSAC reported the following information (in millions) on the IRS Forms 990 (2011-2016): Read more »

3
Apr

Executive Compensation at the American Association for Cancer Research

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and it’s affiliate organization, the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation (AACRF) are both 501 (c) (3)’s that operate out of the same office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  AACRF primarily raises funds for AACR while AACR engages in three (3) activities: awarding grants, conducting seminars, conferences, and workshops, and publishing research journals.  Read more »

1
Apr

Where Does $100 to the American Association for Cancer Research Go?

The American Association for Cancer Research  is actually two (2) affiliated organizations:

  • The American Association for Cancer Research, Inc. (AACR):  a 501 (c) (3) based in Philadelphia that is primarily engaged in three activities:  awarding research grants, scientific awards, fellowships, and career development, conducting annual meetings, special conferences and educational workshops for members and non-members, and the publication of journals.
  • The American Association for Cancer Research Foundation (AACRF):  a 501 (c) (3) based out of the same office as AACR that is primarily engaged in raising funds for AACR.

Because AACRF is a major source of revenue for AACR, both organizations need to be analyzed to understand the inflow of revenue and the outflow of expenses. Read more »

29
Mar

Denise Meyer: 1950 – 2018

The most I can do for my friend is simply be her friend.

My friend, Denise passed away a few days ago from cancer. I was going to write “after a long battle with cancer” but that wouldn’t tell the full story – words rarely do.

34 years ago, after struggling with fertility issues Denise was pregnant with her daughter, Candice when she found out she had cancer. Against the advice of doctors, Denise decided to wait a few weeks for the baby’s lungs to develop before having a c-section followed by a complete hysterectomy. Years later when I was in the last weeks of pregnancy, Denise told me how lucky I was to carry my daughter to term; she felt she missed out on the whole 40 week pregnancy experience but also came to realize she was very fortunate in other ways. In the early years, Denise didn’t know if she would see her children grow up and then proceeded to tell me how incredibly lucky she was to have raised her kids. In that moment, Denise showed me that life is lived with both losses and wins, fear and joy, grief and gratitude. Read more »

27
Mar

Where Does $100 to Vietnam Veterans of America Go?

The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is a 501 (c) (19) – an organization with past or present members of the armed forces (75% or more), that is exempt from federal income taxes. Donations are deductible as charitable contributions.  Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, VVA has 119 employees who “support a range of issues affecting Vietnam veterans and their families.”

According to the IRS Form 990 (2016) for the year beginning March 1, 2016 and ending February 28, 2017, VVA raised $8.7 million from the following sources: Read more »

25
Mar

Executive Compensation at UNICEF

UNICEF is one of the most well-known charities in the world. Formed in 1947, UNICEF in the US is based in New York City.  In 2016, the United States Fund for UNICEF raised $553 million – an increase of $53 million more than in 2015 – and most of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants.  Expenses totaled $545 million with the remaining revenue added to the net fund balance which had $114 million at year-end. Read more »

23
Mar

Where Does $100 to UNICEF Go?

The United States Fund for UNICEF (“UNICEF”) is a non-profit organization primarily engaged in raising contributions and awarding grants to other organizations that work with health and education issues in more than 150 countries (but primarily in Sub-Sahara Africa).

Established in 1947, the organization is based in New York City in a headquarters that was acquired and equipped with a $43.5 million (which had a year-end balance of about $37.5 million) bond issue in 2007. Read more »