Illinois · Nonprofit
THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION
THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,326,965 to it, the largest being EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES FOUNDATION ($2,220,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $3.3M
- Net assets
- $9.0M
What The Thoracic Surgery Foundation does
Mission
The mission of tsf is to advance heart and lung health for all.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
12 research awards to fund clinical, applied, and data-focused research in all disciplines of the cardiothoracic surgery specialty. Most awards are granted for a two-year term, and are subject to a rigorous, nih-style review and selection process administered by expert surgeon scientists.
$964,692 spentof which $1,000,000 as grants53% of program spending109 surgical outreach & educational awards. The surgical outreach awards provide funding for surgical outreach and training in underserved areas around the world. These awards support trips for full surgical teams and individual international medical volunteers, primarily focusing on treating rheumatic heart disease and congenital conditions globally. Educational awards in the form of latin american conference scholarships provide funding to cardiothoracic surgeons, physicians, and residents from around the world at under-resourced institutions who treat underserved patients, and who demonstrate a financial need. The course focuses on the latest developments and best practices in coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, thoracic aortic disease, atrial fibrillation, and the surgical management of heart failure.
$623,715 spentof which $602,648 as grants35% of program spending44 education awards to provide short-term traveling fellowship experiences for surgeons in all disciplines of the cardiothoracic surgery specialty to learn a specific surgical technique from an expert in the field. Awardees then bring new expertise to their home institutions to improve the care of patients in their region.
$186,478 spentof which $200,585 as grants10% of program spendingOther program services: 3 extraordinary women in cardiothoracic surgery awards, recognizing women cardiothoracic surgeons who have demonstrated exceptional clinical expertise and made significant contributions to the field. 2 alley sheridan scholarships for early-career and mid-career cardiothoracic surgeons to attend the sts leadership institute. 1 viven thomas lecture award- speaker honorarium at the sts annual meeting.
$31,158 spentof which $30,000 as grants2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,806,043.
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.
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 $5.3M to $7.7M (+47%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Chief executive
Lee A Wiensch
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $21k → $715k.
5 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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: $4.8M from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Society of Thoracic Surgeons). These are real filings, and they are not money THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION’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
THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 83% · 2019 38% · 2020 31% · 2021 90% · 2022 60% · 2023 77% — 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 THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 82% 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 THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 15 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $215k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.
Organizations like THE THORACIC SURGERY 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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
40%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Society of Thoracic Surgeons · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE THORACIC SURGERY 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 THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION?
- THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,326,965 to it, the largest being EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES FOUNDATION ($2,220,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $3,326,965 in grants to THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION?
- EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,220,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE THORACIC SURGERY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 22 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