Robert W Woodruff Health Sciences Center Fund Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
To make grants and provide support benefitting Emory University's Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences institutions, which includes Emory's schools of medicine, nursing, and public health and its medical research laboratories and hospitals.
- Income
- $147.5 million
- Spending
- $67.9 million
- Spent on programs
- 98%
- Reserves
- Over 10 years of spending
- Largest source of income
- investment income, 100%
- Employees
- 14
- Volunteers
- 0
- Highest pay
- $106,652, president - retired 1/31/2025
Source: Form 990 for the year ending August 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 93% of charities in its peer group (education, over $100m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover more than ten years of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 54% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 41% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1598% of spending went to programs.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending August 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 85 out of 100. Higher than 12% of charities in its peer group (education, over $100m).
Independent board
25 of 255 of 5 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
0 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending August 31, 2025, 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 (3)
- $44.9 million spent. More than half of the annual funding distributed by the Woodruff Fund was designated to support the programs and facilities of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. Winship is Georgia's only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. Woodruff Fund grants were used to recruit and retain faculty for dual appointments at Emory's medical school and the Winship Cancer Institute and to fund significant faculty research projects in cancer prevention, detection and treatment. More than one-third of the funds dedicated to support programs were used to support Winship's clinical trials program. Other significant allocations of program funds were made for information technology and data management, support of Winship's biostatistics and bioinformatics programs, and for supporting Winship's administration, shared resources, and its NCI cancer center support grant. Almost half of the distributions to Winship are allocated to pay for facilities.In March 2024, the Woodruff Fund made a multi-year commitment to fund an extraordinary effort to grow Winship with a focus on improving the patient experience and better aligning research programs with patient care. Consistent with that commitment, the Woodruff Fund agreed to redesignate to the "Bigger, Better Winship" plan some funds previously paid to support Woodruff Health Sciences facilities and to increase distributions from the Woodruff Fund to Emory in future fiscal years. Accomplishments from this investment include hiring new clinical and research faculty, hiring patient navigators to support patient experience, increased digitization of pathology services and reduced patient wait and trial activation times.
- $17.7 million spent. Woodruff Fund grants supported strategic academic and research initiatives in Emory's medical schools and enterprises. Significant support during this fiscal year was directed to Emory's School of Medicine to recruit a new Vice President for Basic and Translational Research and to recruit a new Health Policy and Management Department Chair. The Woodruff Fund also invested in the research areas of brain health, AIDS, diabetes and maternal health, in addition to facility and equipment improvements to the Primate Center and the Biochemistry department. A significant portion of the distributions were used to pay for facilities, including Emory's biomedical research facilities and School of Medicine building.
- $4.2 million spent. The Woodruff Fund oversees a separate investment account intended to grow research capacity for the Emory + Children's Pediatric Research Institute. In this fiscal year, the Fund disbursed $4.225 million toward a multi-year plan to recruit pediatric investigators focused on childhood cancer and blood disorders and cardiac and brain medicine.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending August 31, 2025, 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 August 2025.
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 June 1996.
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.