Grants for cancer organizations

922 cancer nonprofits received at least $78.2 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,500 grants made from 1,969 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $500. Of these 1,969 foundations, 85% made just a single grant to cancer orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more cancer orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$78,240,181
Total grant dollars given to cancer organizations
3,500
Number of grants made annually to cancer organizations
1,969
Number of grantmakers funding cancer organizations
$500
Median grant size to cancer organizations

Foundations that support cancer nonprofits

Out of all grants made to cancer organizations, 82% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 94% of the dollar-value of grants to cancer orgs. Foundations funding cancer orgs also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, scholarship organizations, food banks, and food distribution programs.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
1,614
Medium
 
191
Large
 
163
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type Number of grantmakers
Community
 
36
Private
 
1,686
Corporate
 
105
Other
 
142

Grants made

Grants made to cancer orgs Number of grantmakers
1
 
1,683
2-3
 
226
4-10
 
36
11+
 
24

Top 10 foundations supporting cancer nonprofits

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to cancer orgs Number of grants made to cancer orgs Median grant size
Baird Foundation WI National 0.8% 170 $25
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.5% 165 $53
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.3% 121 $210
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) NJ National 0.0% 66 $250
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines IA State 0.1% 63 $1,000
Ani Mamin Foundation NY Metro 0.7% 62 $36
Salesforce Com Foundation CA National 0.0% 57 $100
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 48 $613
Charity Partners Foundation MA National 0.7% 43 $17
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.2% 42 $500

Cancer nonprofits grantees

Cancer organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 96% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 47% of all cancer orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
3,495
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
5

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$868
$500k-$1M
 
$1,306
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$400

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
New York
 
1,077
Georgia
 
491
Texas
 
271
California
 
210
Other
 
1,451

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
1,154
Atlanta
 
475
Dallas
 
159
Washington DC
 
158
Other
 
1,490

Top 25 grants made to cancer organizations

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute $27,264,760 Cost Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute $27,264,760 Cost Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society (ACS) $8,950,000 Challenge Grant Community Foundation of Collier County
Cancer Research And Biostatistics $6,931,763 Public Health Sciences Fred Hutch (FHCRC)
CancerCare $2,874,966 Education, Treatment Susan G Komen
Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County $5,000 Respite From the Road Program Community Foundation of Mendocino County
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society $5,000 Humanitarian Aid Matthew 25 Ministries
Kentucky Cancer Link $5,000 General Support Baptist Healthcare System
Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation $5,000 General The Greene Family Foundation
American Cancer Society (ACS) $5,000 Sponsorship - Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Exeter Hospital
My Breast Cancer Support $5,000 Sponsorship - "celebrate Pink 5k" Exeter Hospital
On Belay $5,000 Support the Organization's Mission To Build Community Among Youth Who Have Or Have Had A Family Member With Cancer Using Adventure Based Programs That Encourage Participants To Uncover Their Inner Resilience Exeter Hospital
The Gathering Place $5,000 General Corinne L Dodero Foundation for the Arts and Sciences
Liga Contra El Cancer $5,000 Donation Barreiro Foundation
Tomorrows Children's Fund (TCF) $5,000 Charitable Giving As Directed Under the By-Laws of the Council By the Board of Trustees. Eastern Produce Council
Drivers For Survivors $5,000 General Support To Help Fund the Work of This Organization The Morris Memorial Foundation
Bone Marrow and Cancer Foundation $5,000 Medical Research Ainslie Foundation
First Descents $5,000 Support Individuals With Disabilities K2 Adventures Foundation
Cancer Angels of San Diego $5,000 General Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego
The Kareem Jackson Foundation $5,000 Player Matching Grant NFL Foundation
Fairman-Adams Project $5,000 Player Matching Grant NFL Foundation
Victory in the Valley $5,000 General Donation Beach Family Foundation
Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer $5,000 The Five for Ten Campaign The Scott and Nancy Atherton Foundation
United in Pink $5,000 Support United in Pink Robins Financial Credit Union
The Rose $5,000 Support Non-Profit Philanthropic Org Texas Children's Hospital (TCS)
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Cancer organizations" category for this page is determined by the "G30: Cancer" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.