Alabama · Nonprofit
SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE
SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Alabama) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,319,203 to it, the largest being CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION ($4,630,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $50M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $7.3M
- Net assets
- $182M
What Southern Research Institute does
Mission
To offer research and technology services to support the life sciences, energy, and environmental protection industries. The organization pursues entrepreneurial and collaborative initiatives to develop and maintain a pipeline of intellectual property and innovative technologies that contribute to the growth of the organization and positively impact real-world problems.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Scientific platforms has accomplished innovative research in the areas of cancer, infectious disease, and neuroscience. With a focus on the discovery of new, small-molecule therapeutics and the understanding of how these molecules work, drug discovery carries out translational science designed to invent small molecules and advance them from the design stage to the clinic. Government funding supports our efforts in pioneering new scientific areas of drug discovery. The scientific platforms' staff provides expertise in medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, and high-throughput screening technologies, all focused on making discoveries that will contribute to improving human health. The scientific platforms' team has been very effective in its efforts and has discovered more than 20 drugs that have entered clinical trials and six drugs that have been approved by the fda for use in the treatment of cancer.
$17,663,118 spent$15,335,738 earned by the program51% of program spendingCro services provides drug discovery and pre-clinical drug development to pharmaceutical and biotechnology on an outsourced basis. Southern Research Institute has capabilities in all phases of the early-stage drug discovery and development process and provides clients with comprehensive services and support to assist them in streamlining their custom drug discovery and development programs. Some of Southern Research Institute's significant pre-clinical research accomplishments include: demonstrated the efficacy of combination chemotherapy in mice, leading the way for the development of therapeutic approaches with improved clinical outcomes in certain cancers, performed pre-clinical drug development evaluations and analyses on approximately half of the fda-approved cancer therapeutics currently on the market, and contributed to the development of the first drug delivery technology for the extended release of synthetic agents that promote the treatment of prostate cancer.
$13,835,296 spent$12,012,287 earned by the program40% of program spendingSouthern research's stem education outreach program is involved in a wide variety of programs that impact students and teachers in alabama. The mission of sr's stem program is to enhance 6th through 12th grade stem education by drawing upon the expertise and scholarly contributions of the southern research community. We aim to define and exemplify effective stem education to maximize students' readiness to excel in a rapidly changing world. We are working to achieve our education mission by engaging students and teachers in stem activities through summer learning programs, field trips, after-school programing, stem competitions and science fairs, internships, and professional development workshops for stem educators. Our primary objective is to embolden students who possess a passion for innovation and discovery to pursue their interests and strengthen the stem community. Southern research is committed to fostering creativity and impacting the future generation.
$666,467 spent$578,650 earned by the program2% of program spendingCatalyst by southern research is a unique public health data system that connects patient genomes (and other forms of personalized medical data, potentially including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and others) to clinical data to support the health of communities. Sr will accomplish this goal by investing infrastructure to (a) expand access to personalized medicine in alabama, especially in underserved areas of the state; (b) ensure alabamians have more effective diagnostics data to identify and treat underlying conditions and undetected co-morbidities that proved fatal for many alabamians during the covid-19 pandemic; and (c) enable greater access to clinical trials throughout the state. The catalyst program is designed to enhance and provide additioanl preventative care options to alabamians by (1) empowering individual with knowledge about their health; (2) connecting clinical and genomic data with local healthcare providers; and (3) encouraging participation in promising research via targeted clinical trials.
$2,728,674 spent$2,369,132 earned by the program8% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $34,893,555.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $124M to $211M (+70%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2022 30% · 2023 14% · 2024 28%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
28% of SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (52% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
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.
Board chair
Ray Watts
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $864k → $192k.
4 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $218k from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham). These are real filings, and they are not money SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE raised.
From the IRS filings of SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE’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
SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
81% 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 SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 87% · 2019 89% · 2020 40% · 2021 45% · 2022 71% · 2023 75% — 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
12% of SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.
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
SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE draws 79% of its grant income from funders outside Alabama, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $160k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Against its field
SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 149 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 149 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $153.8M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$85.8M
- Department of Defense$50.5M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$9.5M
- Department of Energy$7.1M
- Environmental Protection Agency$438k
- Department of Commerce$398k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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 Alabama
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- University of Alabama at Birmingham · exempt
- Southern Research Institute Veba · exempt
- The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE: 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.
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 SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Alabama) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,319,203 to it, the largest being CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION ($4,630,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $7,319,203 in grants to SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,630,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTHERN RESEARCH INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Alabama. 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 Southern Research Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 19 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing