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Florida · Nonprofit

USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC

USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,811,923 to it, the largest being THE LEO & ANNE ALBERT CHARITABLE TRUST ($3,276,022). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$17M
Funders on record
26
Grants received
$8.8M
Net assets
$80M
13/26 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What Usf Research Foundation Inc does

Mission

To promote, encourage and enhance research activities at the university of south florida.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The research foundation assists in developing high-technology businesses and research partnerships that boost the economy and create high-paying jobs in the tampa bay area by developing its usf research park of tampa bay into a hub for biotechnology and life sciences research and entrepreneurship.

    $11,509,050 spent$10,547,107 earned by the program
    76% of program spending
  2. The research foundation provides a mechanism by which discoveries, inventions, processes and work products of usf faculty, staff and students can be transferred from the university laboratory to benefit the public. Income is allocated in accordance with usf policy on inventions and works to inventors and their research support funds, and for direct support of research at the university.

    $3,479,423 spentof which $2,041,402 as grants$1,910,222 earned by the program
    23% of program spending
  3. The research foundation receives and administers certain basic research and clinical trial contracts and grants sponsored by the private sector and foundations. The grant studies are performed by university faculty, staff and students.

    $188,975 spent$376,544 earned by the program
    1% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,177,448.

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 ($14M) Expenses 100 ($10M) Net assets 100 ($57M)2018 Revenue 113 ($16M) Expenses 112 ($12M) Net assets 109 ($63M)2020 Revenue 108 ($15M) Expenses 109 ($11M) Net assets 122 ($70M)2021 Revenue 167 ($23M) Expenses 113 ($12M) Net assets 168 ($96M)2022 Revenue 131 ($18M) Expenses 154 ($16M) Net assets 136 ($78M)2023 Revenue 112 ($15M) Expenses 158 ($17M) Net assets 135 ($77M)2024 Revenue 125 ($17M) Expenses 182 ($19M) Net assets 135 ($77M)2025 Revenue 122 ($17M) Expenses 154 ($16M) Net assets 139 ($80M)
'17'18'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (122)Expenses (154)Net assets (139)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 2021 to 2022, from $129M to $185M (+43%).

$88M
$91M
$97M
$129M
$185M
$177M
$188M
$197M
'17'18'20'21'22'23'24'25
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
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

0% of USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,254 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$3.3M
’17
$3.8M
’18
$3.4M
’20
$11M
’21
$1.9M
’22
−$1.1M
’23
−$1.8M
’24
$609k
’25
2.6
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

Sylvia Thomas

President and CEO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed1920202222222223
Joined·+3·+3+4+4+4+2
No longer listed·2·14441
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 8 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $1.3M → $273k.

6 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 25 of 26 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

USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

43% 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 USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC.

37%
largest funder
70%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 28% · 2019 49% · 2020 60% · 2021 37% · 2022 58% · 2023 73% — 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

44% of USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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

82% of USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from Florida funders.

IL
NY
OH
PA
NJ
RI
CA
MD
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $356k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC's revenue grew 22% between 2017 and 2025.

Operating margin4% · below the median
Months of reserve2.6mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Organizations like USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION 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 Florida

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

94% of spending goes to programs.

Program 94%Management 6%Fundraising 0%

Governance

13
board members
54%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

FL

Part of a family of 12 related entities

  • Causf Research LLC · disregarded
  • The University of South Florida Board of Trustees · exempt
  • University of South Florida Alumni Association Inc · exempt
  • University of South Florida Foundation · exempt
  • Usf Health Professions Conferencing Corporation · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC?
USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,811,923 to it, the largest being THE LEO & ANNE ALBERT CHARITABLE TRUST ($3,276,022). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC have?
IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $8,811,923 in grants to USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC?
THE LEO & ANNE ALBERT CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $3,276,022 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like USF RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 26 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