California · Nonprofit
SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (California) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,654,635 to it, the largest being THE SIMON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,275,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $2.2M
- Funders on record
- 49
- Grants received
- $2.7M
- Net assets
- $6.5M
What Spondylitis Association of America does
Mission
Advancing and directly sponsoring spondyloarthritis research, accelerating diagnosis, supporting optimum treatment for the individual, advancing awareness, and public and health care professional education in spondyloarthritis.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
Saa delivers patient education, disease awareness, and support services through an integrated digital platform that includes virtual seminars, webinars, educational content, online publications, and patient support resources. At the center of these efforts is www.spondylitis.org, a comprehensive online resource featuring thousands of pages of physician-reviewed information and serving over 705,000 unique visitors annually.global spondyloarthritis summit 2026 saas signature online educational program, 8thannual global spondyloarthritis summit, took place may 1-2. This year's summit featured 12 presentations by subject matter experts on practical strategies to address everyday challenges while living with spa. Each presentation followed by a live q&a for attendees to have their most pressing questions answered. The summit also featured a leaderboard challenge, an activity lounge and an exhibit hall. Saa also provided spanish language subtitles for the presentations. Nearly 3,000 attendees from 75 countries registered for this year's event. Recordings of the presentations are available as enduring content on saa's website. Healthed livestream - in fye 2026, saa developed and launched…
$953,760 spent$3,617 earned by the program40% of program spendingEarly career investigator awards (eci)two of these prestigious jane bruckel early career investigator awards were publicly presented during the american college of rheumatology annual conference this fiscal year. Each received $30,000 to conduct spondyloarthritis research this year. -dr. Paras karmacharya, md, ms, assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology and immunology at vanderbilt university medical center.during his internal medicine residency, dr. Karmacharya focused on clinical research and epidemiological studies using national databases. As a rheumatology fellow at mayo clinic, he investigated the epidemiology of psoriatic arthritis (psa) and the comorbidities associated with spa. His research has been published in leading rheumatology journals, including annals of the rheumatic diseases, arthritis care & research, and acr open rheumatology. In recognition of his contributions, he received the 2020 philip s. Hench award for excellence as a subspecialty fellow in rheumatology.- dr. Rachael stovall, md, mas, is an acting assistant professor I the division of rheumatology at the university of washington, specializing in axial spondyloarthritis (axspa).…
$738,637 spentof which $668,476 as grants31% of program spendingOther program servicessocial media our social media channels (facebook, twitter, instagram, and linkedin) are essential tools for increasing awareness and engaging with saa's constituents. During the fiscal year ending june 30, 2026, our social media channels earned 2,062,916 impressions, 39,068 engagements (likes, shares, comments) and 11,867 post link clicks. Facebook accounted for 1,726,069 impressions; instagram accounted for 272,968, twitter accounted for 33,317, linkedin accounted for 29,366 and tiktok accounted for 1,196.youtube as a video sharing platform, youtube also serves as a search engine. In fact, youtube is the second most popular search engine in the world with only google surpassing it. During the fiscal year ending june 30, 2026, there were 54.4k views and 676.6k impressions of video content on our youtube channel.saa website during the fiscal year ending june 30, 2026, saa website had 781,181 page views and 333,740 unique users. In terms of demographics, 58 percent of website visitors are female, and 42 percent are male. The age groups were 18-24 (10,128), 25-34 (15,784), 35-44 (13,567), and 45 54 (11,680), 55-64 (9,907), and 65+ (6,478).community forum - saa's…
$374,704 spent16% of program spendingHealth care provider education and outreachback 2 spa basics pilot program - this program was created to raise spa awareness and educate primary care providers and other healthcare professionals within a hospital's healthcare system using medical residents as trainers. Residents who completed their core clinical training in internal medicine and have chosen rheumatology as a specialty participated in a series of 3-5 trainings about spa conducted virtually via zoom. Once these residents complete the "train-the-trainer" curriculum, they set up presentations at their local hospitals to provide education and increase awareness of spa. For the pilot program, we had 15 residents enroll who then gave presentations on spa to over 165 medical professionals within their medical institutions. Accredited online education for first responders"ems pitfalls: ankylosing spondylitis" - saa's course for first responders, "ems pitfalls: ankylosing spondylitis" was reaccredited in december 2022 and continues to provide 1 ce credit for first responders and nurses.standard ems treatment protocols can cause injury, disability, and even death in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (as). This course…
$337,612 spent14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,404,713.
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.
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 $4.9M to $7.9M (+60%).
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: 2021 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 10 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.
Chief executive
Cassie Shafer
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Michael Pianin
Board chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $103k → $498k.
10 of 49 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% 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 SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 49 funders by total. 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
SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 26% · 2018 51% · 2019 54% · 2020 49% · 2021 48% · 2022 39% · 2023 60% — 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
57% of SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA draws 89% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 17 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $620k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA's funding base is broadening — from 15 funders to 22 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 76 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2026
Organizations like SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
55%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: 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 SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA?
- SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (California) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,654,635 to it, the largest being THE SIMON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,275,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA have?
- IRS filings report 49 organizations giving $2,654,635 in grants to SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA?
- THE SIMON FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,275,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 49 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