Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- It reported loans to or from officers, directors or other insiders.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
THE ORGANIZATION CONDUCTS RESEARCH IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON BASIC RESEARCH IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS.
- Income
- $232.7 million
- Spending
- $199.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 82%
- Reserves
- 29.4 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 38%
- Employees
- 1,333
- Volunteers
- 22
- Highest pay
- $1.1 million, ceo and trustee
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 91 out of 100. Higher than 86% of charities in its peer group (science, over $100m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 29.4 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 16% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 14% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 10% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1582% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 2 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 23% of charities in its peer group (science, over $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2530 of 31 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
0 of 10Reports at least one of: diversion of assets, excess benefits, loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $125.4 million spent. RESEARCH: COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY (CSHL), FOUNDED IN 1890, IS A WORLD-RENOWNED, PRIVATE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INSTITUTION WITH RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN CANCER, NEUROSCIENCE, PLANT BIOLOGY, QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY, AND BIOINFORMATICS & GENOMICS. THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT IS HIGHLY COLLABORATIVE, ALLOWING CSHL SCIENTISTS TO WORK TOGETHER ACROSS DISCIPLINES TO SOLVE BIOLOGY'S MOST CHALLENGING PROBLEMS. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO APPLY THIS RESEARCH ON BASIC BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS TO IMPROVE THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF CANCER, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND OTHER DISEASES. (SEE SCHEDULE O)(CONTINUED FROM PART III)RESEARCH AT THE LABORATORY IS ENRICHED BY COLLABORATIONS WITH SCIENTISTS AT OTHER UNIVERSITIES, HOSPITALS AND IN THE BIOTECH AND PHARMACEUTICAL SECTORS. THESE PARTNERINGS HAVE INCLUDED NYU, MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING, WEILL CORNELL AND HARVARD. THE INNOVATIVE SPIRIT, VISION AND TALENT OF THE LABORATORY'S OVER 600 SCIENTISTS CONTINUE TO PLACE CSHL AMONG THE TOP 1% OF LIFE SCIENCE INSTITUTIONS MOST CITED IN PUBLISHED RESEARCH. THE LABORATORY HAS BEEN A NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE-DESIGNATED CANCER CENTER WITH AN NCI "OUTSTANDING" RATING. IT HAS BEEN HOME TO EIGHT NOBEL LAUREATES, INCLUDING BARBARA MCCLINTOCK, DISCOVERER OF THE "JUMPING GENES". THE LABORATORY OFFERS AN ADVANCED DRUG TESTING FACILITY DELIVERING WELL-VALIDATED DRUG CANDIDATES TO BOTH THE BIOTECH AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY. SINCE 2015, CSHL HAS HAD AN AFFILIATION WITH NORTHWELL HEALTH, THE AFFILIATION HAS LAUNCHED NEW EDUCATION INITIATIVES, EXPANDED ACCESS TO CLINICAL TRIALS, AND PROVIDED FUNDING FOR NEW INVESTIGATIONS THAT WILL HAVE A RAPID IMPACT IN THE CLINIC. TOGETHER, CSHL AND NORTHWELL HEALTH ARE COMMITTED TO BRINGING OUR DISCOVERIES OUT OF THE LAB AND TO THE PATIENTS. AS A TEAM, WE ARE POISED TO IDENTIFY NEW CANCER DIAGNOSTICS AND THERAPEUTICS THAT WILL MORE EFFECTIVELY AND RAPIDLY TREAT CANCER THAN EVER BEFORE.
- $21.0 million spent. EDUCATIONAL MEETINGS & COURSES PROGRAM: CSHL'S REPUTATION AS ONE OF THE PREMIER HUBS OF ACTIVITY IN BIOLOGY AND GENETICS IS LINKED TO ITS MEETINGS AND COURSES PROGRAM. WITH ROOTS IN THE LEGENDARY ANNUAL SYMPOSIA IN QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY SERIES, WHICH BEGAN IN 1933, THE PROGRAM ORGANIZES MORE THAN 60 MEETINGS AND COURSES ANNUALLY, COVERING A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. IN 2024, THE PROGRAM CONTINUED TO SUCCESSFULLY HOLD VIRTUAL MEETINGS AND COURSES ATTRACTING CLOSE TO 13,000 PARTICIPANTS. (SEE SCHEDULE O)(CONTINUED FROM PART III)PARTICIPANTS RANGE FROM THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED SENIOR INVESTIGATORS TO GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS. PROGRAMS ARE PUT TOGETHER ON THE BASIS OF OPENLY SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS AND INCLUDE DISCUSSIONS OF UNPUBLISHED WORK. CSH ASIA, A CSHL-STYLED MEETING PROGRAM, BEGAN IN 2009, AND CONTINUES TO OPERATE IN SUZHOU, CHINA.
- $10.2 million spent. PUBLICATIONS: WITH ORIGINS IN THE 1930'S, CSHL PRESS ENHANCES THE LABORATORY'S EDUCATIONAL MISSION BY PUBLISHING ORIGINAL WORK THAT ASSISTS IN THE ADVANCE AND SPREAD OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE. SALE OF ITS PUBLICATIONS ENHANCES THE LABORATORY'S INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE. THE PRESS PUBLISHES RESEARCH AND REVIEW JOURNALS, BOOKS, MANUALS, PRIMERS AND OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES, IN ELECTRONIC AND PRINT FORM. IN 2024, THE PRESS PUBLISHED 283 PRINT BOOKS, INCLUDING 15 NEW TITLES. THE PRESS ALSO PRODUCES 3 PRINT/ONLINE JOURNALS, 4 ONLINE ONLY JOURNALS AND 1 NO-CHARGE JOURNALS.
- $7.6 million spent. OTHER PROGRAMS SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES: THE CSHL SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (SBS) TRAINS THE NEXT GENERATION OF BIOLOGISTS, OFFERING A PH.D. IN BIOLOGY IN AS LITTLE AS 4 YEARS TO A LIMITED NUMBER OF ACCOMPLISHED STUDENTS (APPROXIMATELY 50) DRAWN FROM AROUND THE WORLD. THE CURRICULUM IS DESIGNED TO TRAIN SELF-CONFIDENT, SELF-RELIANT YOUNG SCIENTISTS TO BECOME SCHOLARS AND TO ACQUIRE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEIR RESEARCH AND FUTURE CAREERS DEMAND. OUR GRADUATES ARE WELL PREPARED TO ENTER A WIDE ARRAY OF CAREERS THAT INCLUDE ACADEMIC RESEARCH, BIOTECH, PHARMA, CONSULTING, AND PUBLISHING. STUDENTS AT CSHL EXPLORE CAREER OPTIONS AND ACQUIRE PROFESSIONAL SKILLS THROUGH SEVERAL MEANS, SUCH AS THE CAREER AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT COURSE, THE CAREER DIRECTIONS SERIES AND THE BIOSCIENCE ENTERPRISE CLUB. THE SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND INTERNSHIPS. BANBURY CENTER: BANBURY CENTER, LOCATED ON THE GROUNDS OF THE HISTORIC ROBERTSON HOUSE, PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCIENTISTS AND OTHER LEADERS IN SOCIETY TO DISCUSS TOPICS OF COMMON INTEREST. APPROXIMATELY TWENTY MEETINGS ARE ORGANIZED EACH YEAR, FOR GROUPS BETWEEN 20-30 PARTICIPANTS. THE CONFERENCES ARE RECOGNIZED INTERNATIONALLY AS BEING AMONG THE WORLD'S BEST DISCUSSION WORKSHOPS FOR TOPICS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, MOLECULAR GENETICS, HUMAN GENETICS, NEUROSCIENCE AND SCIENCE POLICY.DNA LEARNING CENTER:THE DNA LEARNING CENTER (DNALC) HAS A MAJOR IMPACT NOT ONLY IN THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA, BUT ALSO GLOBALLY IN PIONEERING PUBLIC SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR THE GENOME AGE. WITH TEACHING FACILITIES ON LONG ISLAND AND NEW YORK CITY, IT BRINGS A HANDS-ON APPROACH TO LEARNING ABOUT BIOLOGY AND GENOMES TO CLASSROOMS AND HOMES OF CHILDREN IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS, MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS. RENOWNED FOR DEVISING MEANS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, TEACHERS AND PARENTS TO CONDUCT SOPHISTICATED EXPERIMENTS WITH DNA, THE DNALC ALSO HAS A ROBUST PRESENCE ON THE INTERNET, POWERED BY A TEAM OF MULTIMEDIA INNOVATORS WHO BRING KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIFE SCIENCES TO COMPUTER, TABLET AND CELL PHONE USERS.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 1964.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.