Grants for cancer research centers

110 cancer research organizations received at least $268.9 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 357 grants made from 229 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 229 foundations, 86% made just a single grant to cancer research orgs, and 5% made grants to four or more cancer research orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$268,904,043
Total grant dollars given to cancer research centers
357
Number of grants made annually to cancer research centers
229
Number of grantmakers funding cancer research centers
$1,000
Median grant size to cancer research centers

Foundations that support cancer research organizations

Out of all grants made to cancer research centers, 67% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 97% of the dollar-value of grants to cancer research orgs. Foundations funding cancer research orgs also made grants to universities, homeless shelters, food banks, religious organizations, and animal shelters.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
154
Medium
 
33
Large
 
42
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
10
Private
 
174
Corporate
 
20
Other
 
25

Grants made

Grants made to cancer research orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
199
2-3
 
17
4-10
 
9
11+
 
4

Top 10 foundations supporting cancer research organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to cancer research orgsNumber of grants made to cancer research orgsMedian grant size
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%26$1,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%21$200
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.1%15$100
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%11$200
BaxterILNational0.1%10$75
Baird FoundationWINational0.1%6$75
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.0%6$175
Community Foundation of Collier CountyFLNational0.0%5$1,000
Arthur J Gallagher FoundationILNational0.1%5$50
Fox Chase Cancer CenterPAMetro84.7%4$17,106,595

Cancer research organizations grantees

Cancer research centers with more than $5 million in total revenues received 99% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 60% of all cancer research orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
340
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
17

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,937
$100k-$500k
 
$1,750
$500k-$1M
 
$500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
Washington
 
84
Maryland
 
71
New York
 
51
Pennsylvania
 
18
Other
 
133

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
92
Seattle
 
84
New York City
 
46
Philadelphia
 
18
Other
 
116

Top 25 grants made to cancer research centers

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy$91,753,500HealthSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN)$29,902,718FMVAmerican Cancer Society (ACS)
The Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC)$28,589,363ResearchFox Chase Cancer Center
The Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC)$28,589,363Actual Amount ReceivedFox Chase Cancer Center
Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC)$14,730,406Philanthropic DistributionsH Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Foundation
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$14,090,631HivBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$13,056,437HivBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
John Wayne Cancer Institute$8,447,790CostSaint John's Health Center Foundation
John Wayne Cancer Institute$8,016,661ResearchSaint John's Health Center Foundation
The Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC)$5,623,828Agreed Upon Alloc of Exp IncurreFox Chase Cancer Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute$5,250,806ResearchThe Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute$4,750,285Research Sub-AwardHarvard University
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$4,041,821Pediatric Medical Research Grant Subaward and Support for Brain Tumor ResearchSeattle Children's Hospital
The Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC)$3,446,349Agreed Upon Alloc of Exp IncurreFox Chase Cancer Center
Aim Hi Translation Research$3,000,000TranslationalNational Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR)
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute$2,580,044Program SupportThe Broad Institute
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute$2,500,000Food Bank Financial AssistanceAhold Delhaize USA Family Foundation
BrightFocus Foundation$5,000UnrestrictedIrvin and Connie Pund Foundation
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$5,000Health Research & CareThe McNaughton Foundation
Cure Childhood Cancer Association$5,000Charitable PurposeMax and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$5,000Pediatric Cancer ResearchSt Baldrick's Foundation (SBF)
Fred Hutch (FHCRC)$5,000General SupportFive for the Fight Foundation
Prevent Cancer Foundation (PCF)$5,000HealthThe Carl M Freeman Foundation
Canary Foundation$5,000HealthcareEdwards Foundation
This Time Tomorrow$5,000Public WelfareMayer Family Foundation
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 research centers" category for this page is determined by the "H30: Cancer Research" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.