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Kansas · Nonprofit

CANCER ACTION INC

CANCER ACTION INC (Kansas) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,448,838 to it, the largest being United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc ($331,302). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$559k
Funders on record
21
Grants received
$1.4M
Net assets
$2.8M
16/21 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 33%
01What it does

What Cancer Action Inc does

Mission

Cancer Action is dedicated to reducing distress and promoting the well-being of those living with, through and beyond cancer in the Kansas City area. Cancer Action meets the physical, emotional, social and financial needs of those with cancer and their families, making a difference one person at a time, offering support through every step of the cancer journey.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Patient Services Program: A diagnosis of cancer can bring many challenges to a person's life and those who care for them. They need a place to turn for support and to help meet the many needs that cancer brings to their lives. For over 65 years, Cancer Action has been that place of hope and help in Kansas City. Cancer Action's Patient Services Program provides direct services, financial assistance, education, emotional support and guidance to individuals facing the many challenges cancer brings to those who live in the greater Kansas City area. Cancer Action offers programs and services that address the physical, emotional, social and financial needs of those with cancer and their families, making a difference one person at a time. Programs and services are offered to any person through every step of their cancer journey. Some of these services include prescription assistance, nutritional supplements, wigs and headwear, medical equipment and supplies, education and emotional support. In 2023, Cancer Action stepped up to meet some of the burdens of families by adding a gas card program for those incurring the additional expenses during cancer treatment. This program had tremendous…

    $364,079 spentof which $66,389 as grants
    92% of program spending
  2. Volunteer Program: Volunteer Program recruits, trains, and manages the many volunteers that help offer support, comfort and care to the agency's clients. Cancer Action has always been fortunate to have an army of volunteers offering support to the organization and those we serve; we have a number of volunteers who raise funds through special events held during the year.

    $17,517 spent
    4% of program spending
  3. Community Education Program: Cancer Action provides education on a variety of topics related to cancer and cancer care. Education is provided through various methods. Cancer Action staff educate people one-on-one through phone calls and presents at other health care events when the opportunities arise.

    $15,669 spent
    4% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $397,265.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.1M) Expenses 100 ($616k) Net assets 100 ($1.8M)2018 Revenue 70 ($782k) Expenses 95 ($587k) Net assets 102 ($1.8M)2019 Revenue 57 ($631k) Expenses 95 ($588k) Net assets 120 ($2.1M)2020 Revenue 57 ($634k) Expenses 85 ($522k) Net assets 136 ($2.4M)2021 Revenue 69 ($773k) Expenses 69 ($427k) Net assets 158 ($2.8M)2022 Revenue 58 ($648k) Expenses 71 ($439k) Net assets 136 ($2.4M)2023 Revenue 52 ($580k) Expenses 81 ($496k) Net assets 152 ($2.7M)2024 Revenue 50 ($559k) Expenses 86 ($532k) Net assets 156 ($2.8M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (50)Expenses (86)Net assets (156)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $2.4M to $2.8M (+16%).

$1.8M
$1.8M
$2.2M
$2.4M
$2.8M
$2.5M
$2.8M
$2.9M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 10% · 2021 7% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

83% of CANCER ACTION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (83% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 14,932 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$498k
’17
$195k
’18
$44k
’19
$111k
’20
$346k
’21
$209k
’22
$84k
’23
$27k
’24
14
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Karla Nichols

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed2221222222212120
Joined·+3+5+2+2+4+6+5
No longer listed·4422566
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 8 funders to 7 funders, grant income fell $330k → $120k.

8 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of CANCER ACTION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

CANCER ACTION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

96% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CANCER ACTION INC.

23%
largest funder
56%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 32% · 2019 31% · 2020 40% · 2021 33% · 2022 45% · 2023 42% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

38% of CANCER ACTION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 76% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

CANCER ACTION INC draws 81% of its grant income from funders outside Kansas, across 6 states in all.

NY
CT
MO
VA
KS
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Kansas out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $182k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

CANCER ACTION INC is better cushioned than half of the 13,769 health nonprofits its size.

Operating margin5% · below the median
Months of reserve14.0mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−9% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,769 health nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like CANCER ACTION INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Kansas

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

75% of spending goes to programs.

Program 75%Management 20%Fundraising 6%

Governance

19
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

83%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CANCER ACTION INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds CANCER ACTION INC?
CANCER ACTION INC (Kansas) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,448,838 to it, the largest being United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc ($331,302). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CANCER ACTION INC have?
IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $1,448,838 in grants to CANCER ACTION INC, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CANCER ACTION INC?
United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc is the largest funder on record, with $331,302 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CANCER ACTION INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kansas. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Cancer Action →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 21 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing