Skip to content
American Cancer Society Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

American Cancer Society Inc

Improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.

$25M
Granted FY2025still arriving
509
Grants FY2025still arriving
50
States reached
$9.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$718MScience & Tech$282MEducation$204MRecreation & Sports$13MHousing & Shelter$6.2MInternational$2.3MYouth Development$1.4MHuman Services$719kOther$0
02FY2025 · 509 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 509 grants below total $23,090,714, the rows itemized in this filing. The $24,540,185 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,449,471 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k64 grants · $471k
  • $10k–50k383 grants · $7.0M
  • $50k–250k58 grants · $4.5M
  • $250k+4 grants · $11M
$15,000
Median grant
50
States reached
$1.7B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network$9,602,782
U Of Tx Md Anderson Cancer Ctr$850,955
Patient Advocate Foundation$351,250
Coriell Institute for Medical Research$300,000
Texas Oncology Foundation Inc$212,500
American College Of Surgeons$201,000
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center$157,500
Ochsner Clinic Foundation$150,000
The Milken Institute$125,000
The Ohio State University$125,000
Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics Inc$120,000
Virginia Tech Foundation Inc$113,694
University Of Miami$110,000
Memorial Foundation Inc$100,000
Northside Hospital Inc$100,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $605k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Upstate Foundation Inc: $40k → 14%COMMUNITY ACTION CORPORATION OF SOUTH TEXAS: $50k → 25%ACCESS: $100k → 21%Wyoming Foundation for Cancer Care: $50k → 11%UPSTATE FOUNDATION: $38k → 14%CENTROMED: $50k → 16%Wyoming Foundation for Cancer Care: $40k → 11%WESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $50k → 11%Canine Assistants Inc: $50k → 13%SLEW Inc: $40k → 16%SOUTH END COMMUNITY HEALTH CTR: $38k → 16%TRIAGE CANCER: $60k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1B · 1003 repeat orgs$54M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

1003 repeat relationships: 426 still active in FY2025, 577 since wound down; 70 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

1003
556

Total granted

$1.1B
$53M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+22%

Still filing today

75%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyFood & NutritionScience & TechOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
    8× · 2017–2024 · $16M · revenue +162%
  • ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
    9× · 2017–2025 · $15M · revenue +58%
  • Northwestern University
    8× · 2017–2024 · $12M · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • AC
    ACS CAPITAL INC
    one grant, 2017 · $6.2M · revenue -99% · 98% of their budget
  • NA
    NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $4.1M · revenue +136%
  • MG
    MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2017 · $3.8M
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialists Pllc

The Mission of Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialists, PLLC is to put the patients first, provide coordinated quality care and value, exceed the expectations of patients, providers, staff and the community that it serves.

Health
2
Methodist Medical Center

Methodist Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

Health
3
Central Maine Medical Center

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustfulenvironment through the expertise, commitment and compassion of ourfamily of caregivers.

Health
4
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
5
University Hospital & Clinics Inc

The organization provides medical care to improve, maintain, and restore the health of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
6
Humc Cardiovascular Partners Pc

The organization provides high quality medical care to the community that it serves and specifically provides cardiology & related professional medical services in conjunction with hmh hospitals corp.

Health
7
Rumford Hospital

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustfulenvironment through the expertise, commitment and compassion of ourfamily of caregivers.

Health
8
Highmark Health

As the parent entity of a blended health organization, highmark health seeks to improve the health and well-being of the people and communities it serves by providing affordable, accessible and high-quality healthcare.

Health
9
Humc Medical Observation Pa

To serve as the physician services component of a tax-exempt healthcare delivery network and to thereby promote, support & further the charitable purposes, programs & services of hmh hospitals corp.

—
10
Cumberland Medical Center

Cumberland Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health, regardless of the patient's ability to pay.

Health
11
CalvertHealth Medical Center Inc

Calverthealth medical center provides quality inpatient and ambulatory health care to the people of southern maryland that is accessible, cost-effective and compassionate. chmc works in partnership with the community to improve the health…

Health
12
Central Maine Healthcare Corporation

To provide exceptional healthcare services in a safe and trustful environment through the expertise, committment, and compassion of our family of caregivers.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Good Samaritan Hospital Corvallis; the most unlike its peers is Lucky Shoals Community Association Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

1271 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 1271 of the 1,655 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

24
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
137
Early backer (in before they grew)
1234/1271
Grantees still filing
967/1271
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACS CANCER ACTION NETWORK: $54,311,410 · OtherACS CANCER ACTION NETWORKMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $22,525,333 · OtherUTMD ANDERSON: $20,613,395 · OtherOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $18,566,638 · Other+94 more: $417,611,275 · Other+94 moreAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $173,585,599 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CANCER…Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $16,079,663 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute I…+38 more: $111,548,672 · Health+38 moreTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $20,165,913 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY…Yale University: $19,619,473 · EducationYale UniversityICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $15,292,745 · EducationICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE A…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $13,204,408 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $11,770,125 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF UTAH RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,432,475 · EducationAMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS: $9,362,427 · EducationUniversity of Chicago: $9,266,344 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $9,224,488 · Education+47 more: $144,165,713 · Education+47 moreNorthwestern University: $12,164,919 · Recreation & SportsACS CAPITAL INC: $6,154,042 · Housing & ShelterThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies: $2,181,318 · Science & TechCOLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY: $1,404,050 · Science & TechCLINTON HEALTH ACCESS INITIATIVE INC: $2,269,226 · InternationalROSWELL PARK ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $917,000 · Philanthropy
Other$533,628,051Health$301,213,934Education$262,504,111Recreation & Sports$12,164,919Housing & Shelter$6,154,042Science & Tech$3,585,368International$2,269,226Philanthropy$917,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $173,585,599 over 6y, 86% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $20,165,913 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetYale University: $19,619,473 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $18,566,638 over 8y, 50% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $16,079,663 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $15,292,745 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $13,204,408 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $12,164,919 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $11,770,125 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF UTAH RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,432,475 over 8y, 9.5% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $9,824,595 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS: $9,362,427 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $9,266,344 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $9,224,488 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetThe Institute For Cancer Research: $8,761,514 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $7,960,075 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $7,742,947 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University: $7,490,084 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetIndiana University Research & Technology Corporation: $7,326,292 over 5y, 55% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $7,149,885 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $6,930,100 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $6,912,234 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $6,895,500 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $6,842,112 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $6,763,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $6,633,920 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $6,405,439 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetACS CAPITAL INC: $6,154,042 over 1y, 98% of budgetBECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF HOPE: $6,020,881 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $5,734,408 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $5,598,295 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $5,208,675 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetPATIENT ADVOCATE FOUNDATION: $5,077,500 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $4,962,221 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $4,949,905 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $4,623,478 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $4,225,999 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $4,080,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $4,021,333 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetTrustees of Dartmouth College: $3,691,709 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC: $3,544,634 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE & HEROES CHILDREN'S CANCER FUND: $3,543,320 over 3y, 35% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $3,423,250 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $3,398,054 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $3,397,929 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $3,370,860 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetVanderbilt University: $3,259,736 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE FOUNDATION INC: $3,105,742 over 6y, 2.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds Yale University ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF UTAH RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds The Institute For Cancer Research ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds Emory University ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Direct ReliefThe Children's Hospit…Cystic Fibrosis Found…Reach Out and Read IncNational Breast Cance…American Heart Associ…Vanderbilt University…The Children's Oncolo…Delta Dental Communit…Child's PlayWill Rogers Motion Pi…Mayo Clinic
Direct ReliefCA76.8× affinity284 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Direct Relief · The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Cystic Fibrosis Foundation · Reach Out and Read Inc · National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc · American Heart Association Inc · Vanderbilt University Medical Center · The Children's Oncology Group Foundation Inc · Delta Dental Community Care Foundation · Child's Play · Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation · Mayo Clinic

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization American Cancer Society Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Cancer Society Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Hugo W Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc: 37% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Boston Medical Center Corporation: 23% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 8% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation Inc: 3% of income from government
  • H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Hospital Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 1655 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on American Cancer Society’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home