North Carolina · Nonprofit
The Isabella Santos Foundation
The Isabella Santos Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,119,175 to it, the largest being The JEM Project ($1,081,251). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 55
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $540k
What The Isabella Santos Foundation does
Mission
The Isabella Santos Foundation was created in honor of Isabella Santos who fought neuroblastoma for over 5 years. The goal of the foundation is to raise money and awareness for neuroblastoma research, provide financial assistance to families with children who are suffering from cancer as well as provide financial support for organizations that support children with cancer.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2024, the Isabella Santos Foundation (ISF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and critical funds in rare pediatric cancer, proudly announced the first eight recipients of funding from its recently launched TORCH (Transformational Outcomes for Rare Cancer Heroes) Initiative. This groundbreaking program is designed to accelerate the advancement of basic science, clinical trials, and survivorship programs specifically for rare pediatric cancer heroes. After a rigorous review process conducted by a distinguished scientific committee, Novant Health, Duke University School of Medicine, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Care Center and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, Texas Childrens Hospital, Mission Hospital, Stanford Medicine Childrens Health, and Nationwide Childrens Hospital have been selected to receive the inaugural grants.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The TORCH Initiative - Transformational Outcomes for Rare Cancer Heroes - launched by the Isabella Santos Foundation in 2024, is dedicated to improving both the quantity and quality of life for children battling rare pediatric cancers beyond Charlotte by funding clinical trials, basic science research, survivorship programs, and critical hospital needs. It aims to raise $1-2 million annually to support hospitals and research institutions across the Carolinas and beyond in pioneering transformative cancer care for young rare cancer heroes.
$1,515,948 spentof which $1,081,990 as grants98% of program spendingThe Live My Dreams giving program, a core part of ISFs mission, provides much-needed support beyond cancer treatment by funding the immediate needs of families impacted by rare pediatric cancers. Since its inception, the program has delivered practical, compassionate support - helping dozens of families through grants for lodging, medical needs, and more.
$27,448 spentof which $27,448 as grants2% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,543,396.
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 2022 to 2023, from $161k to $764k (+374%).
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: 2023 28%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of The Isabella Santos Foundation’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 8 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
Katie Landy
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $157k → $546k.
17 of 55 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 The Isabella Santos Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 55 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
The Isabella Santos Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 35% 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
61% 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 The Isabella Santos Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 35% · 2019 43% · 2020 79% · 2021 69% · 2022 56% · 2023 37% — diversifying over time.
“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
29% of The Isabella Santos Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
The Isabella Santos Foundation draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $891k arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
The Isabella Santos Foundation has grown faster than half of the 8,126 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 8,126 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like The Isabella Santos Foundation
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 The Isabella Santos Foundation: 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 The Isabella Santos Foundation?
- The Isabella Santos Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,119,175 to it, the largest being The JEM Project ($1,081,251). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Isabella Santos Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 55 organizations giving $3,119,175 in grants to The Isabella Santos Foundation, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Isabella Santos Foundation?
- The JEM Project is the largest funder on record, with $1,081,251 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Isabella Santos Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 55 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