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Melanoma Research Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Melanoma Research Foundation

The mrf is the largest independent organization devoted to melanoma.

$1.6M
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$300k
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$10M
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 14 grants below total $1,551,865, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,629,606 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $77,741 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 $10k3 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $720k
  • $250k+3 grants · $800k
$100,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$8.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$300,000
ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI$250,000
THE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY$250,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER$110,000
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$109,828
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER$100,000
INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH DBA THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FOX CHASE CANCE$100,000
EMORY UNIVERSITY$100,000
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS$100,000
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES$100,000
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA OF BIRMINGHAM$9,503
CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER$6,661
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$5,873
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: $300k → 8%DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE INC: $200k → 16%NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE CANCER NETWORK FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $100k → 11%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: $100k → 12%FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER: $200k → 22%SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $200k → 11%THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $200k → 14%NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: $110k → 17%ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: $100k → 28%THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $300k → 16%MELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION BREAKTHROUGH CONSORTIUM INC: $210k → 14%H LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $250k → 13%OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $100k → 8%EMORY UNIVERSITY: $100k → 14%THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $100k → 10%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $200k → 15%CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 17%FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER: $100k → 9%THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $100k → 14%WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $200k → 8%DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE: $100k → 16%INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH DBA THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FOX CHASE CANCE: $100k → 22%THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $100k → 14%THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $150k → 17%THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $110k → 16%MELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $60k → 14%HLEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $200k → 13%SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $250k → 16%TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $300k → 22%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $100k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF TX-MD ANDERSON CENTER: $100k → 16%MELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION BREAKTHROUGH CONSORTIOUM INC: $21k → 14%H LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $100k → 13%TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $300k → 22%BECKMAN RESEARCH INST OF THE CITY OF HOPE: $150k → 14%ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $100k → 17%GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $500k → 14%H LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $50k → 13%THE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY: $250k → 22%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $200k → 17%THE WISTAR INSTITUTE: $100k → 22%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $250k → 17%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $100k → 22%ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $200k → 17%THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $200k → 22%THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $100k → 22%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

WA
IL
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
CT
CA
UT
CO
WV
NC
DC
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.1M · 16 repeat orgs$3.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
22

Total granted

$6.1M
$3.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+30%

Still filing today

63%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $329k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’23’24’25
EducationHealthOther
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

  • HL
    H LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +71%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
    3× · 2019–2025 · $550k · revenue +97%
  • ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
    4× · 2020–2024 · $500k · revenue +39%

Funded once

  • TG
    The George Washington Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $500k · revenue +30%
  • UO
    University of Miamigraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $300k · revenue +66%
  • TB
    The Broad Institute Incgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue +44%
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
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

For more than 125 years, the mission of the johns hopkins hospital has been to lead the world in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to train tomorrow's great physicians, nurses and scientists. above all, we aim to provide the…

Health
2
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
3
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

We educate the next generation of leaders to improve the health of our society.

Education
4
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
5
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
6
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
7
University of Minnesota Physicians

University of minnesota physicians serves as the integrated group practice for the university of minnesota medical school full-time faculty to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients and their families.university of minnesota…

Health
8
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
9
Rush University Medical Center

The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
10
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The mission of the institute has remained constant since its founding in 1953. as its restated articles of incorporation state the primary purpose and objective of the howard hughes medical institute shall be the promotion of human…

Health
11
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

As a leading academic healthcare organization, our mission is to elevate the health status of the communities we serve.(see schedule o for continuation)(continued)-we deliver exceptional healthcare enhanced by research and education-we…

Health
12
Washington University

The washington university is a co-educational, nondenominational university with a long and distinguished history of teaching, research and (cont'd on schedule o)

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology; the most unlike its peers is Society for Melanoma Research. 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

38 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. 38 of the 45 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/38
Grantees still filing
30/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $600,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIAThe George Washington University: $500,000 · EducationThe George Washington UniversityICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $500,000 · EducationICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAIUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $455,873 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGHDUKE UNIVERSITY: $400,000 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $300,000 · EducationTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITYUniversity of Miami: $300,000 · EducationUniversity of MiamiYale University: $300,000 · EducationYale UniversityWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $199,002 · EducationTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · Education+7 more: $439,828 · Education+7 moreH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $1,000,000 · HealthH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH I…Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $550,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute IncTHE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY: $450,000 · HealthTHE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOG…MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $450,000 · HealthMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTERThe Institute For Cancer Research: $300,000 · HealthThe Institute For Cancer ResearchThe Broad Institute Inc: $250,000 · HealthThe Broad Institute IncSANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $206,661 · HealthSANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY I…WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $200,000 · HealthFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $200,000 · HealthBECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF HOPE: $150,000 · Health+3 more: $70,000 · HealthTHE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $410,000 · OtherTHE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $400,000 · OtherREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNI…MELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION BREAKTHROUGH CONSORTIUM INC: $290,311 · OtherMELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDAT…UTMD ANDERSON: $200,000 · OtherUTMD ANDERSONUNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO: $200,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TOLEDOREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $175,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY…MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $150,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCO…PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherOREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $100,000 · Other+4 more: $104,503 · Other
Education$4,144,703Health$3,826,661Other$2,329,814

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $1,000,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $600,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $550,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe George Washington University: $500,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI: $500,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $455,873 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY: $450,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $450,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $400,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Institute For Cancer Research: $300,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $300,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $300,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $300,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMELANOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION BREAKTHROUGH CONSORTIUM INC: $290,311 over 3y, 94% of budgetThe Broad Institute Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $206,661 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $199,002 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE CITY OF HOPE: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAlbert Einstein College of Medicine: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOCIETY FOR MELANOMA RESEARCH: $10,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNCCN FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE JONSSON CANCER CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

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.

American Cancer Socie…The George Washington…Vanderbilt University…The V FoundationMayo ClinicAmerican Heart Associ…Conquer Cancer Founda…Alzheimer's Disease &…The Scripps Research …Georgetown UniversityWashington UniversityThe Trustees of Colum…
American Cancer Society IncGA19.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Cancer Society Inc · The George Washington University · Vanderbilt University Medical Center · The V Foundation · Mayo Clinic · American Heart Association Inc · Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc · The Scripps Research Institute · Georgetown University · Washington University · The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

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 Melanoma Research Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Melanoma Research Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • The Broad Institute Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: 7% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 45 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 Melanoma Research’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