Many in the Type 1 Diabetes community want to work for a cure, but philanthropy is the way most of us can help fund new treatments and cure research.

Some charity dollars go further than others, and donors want to know how their money is spent. Using the database of Charity Navigator — https://www.charitynavigator.org/—, a philanthropy watchdog organization, we’ve compiled statistics and grades on six popular diabetes research organizations.

A couple of caveats:

• The scores are based on an analysis by Charity Navigator of each organization’s most recent fiscal year.
• While Charity Navigator is well-respected in the non-profit world, it is just one of several philanthropy watchdogs. Its assessment of a charity may differ from that of others.
• Some of the organizations below have regional arms that have their own Charity Navigator profile. In such cases, scores in this article only reflect the parent organization.

In order of Best to Worst Performance:

Taking Control of Your Diabetes

Charity Navigator Star Rating –  4 out of 4 stars — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator Score – 91.45 (out of 100)
• Financial Score – 95.00 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 89.00 (out of 100)
• 2016 Total Revenue – $4,228,755
• 2016 Total Expenses – $4,188,227
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal year ending 12/2016)
• Program Expenses – 88.2%
• Fundraising – 3.2%
• Administrative – 8.5%
• Salary for Top Official (2016) – None reported (Michelle Feinstein, Executive Director)

Joslin Diabetes Center

Charity Navigator Star Rating – 3 out of 4 stars — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator Score – 84.29 (out of 100)
• Financial Score – 80.70 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 89.00 (out of 100)
• 2017 Total Revenue – $88,049,280
• 2017 Total Expenses – $88,501,958
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal year ending 9/2017)
• Program Expenses – 78.7%
• Fundraising – 2.9%
• Administrative – 18.2%
• Salary for Top Official (2017) – $679,395 (Peter S Amenta Md, President/CEO)

Diabetes Research Institute Foundation

Charity Navigator Star Rating – 3 out of 4 stars — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator Score – 84.16 (out of 100)
• Financial Score – 77.60 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 100 (out of 100)
• 2018 Total Revenue – $11,192,110
• 2018 Total Expenses – $10,031,396
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal year ending 6/2018)
• Program Expenses – 73.3%
• Fundraising – 16.4%
• Administrative – 10.2%
• Salary for Top Official (2018) – $309,540 (Joshua Rednik, President/CEO)

JDRF (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

Charity Navigator Star Rating – 3 out of 4 stars — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator Score – 82.74 (out of 100)
• Financial Score – 75.78 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 97.00 (out of 100)
• 2018 Total Revenue – $230,115,984
• 2018 Total Expenses – $208,427,675
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal year 6/2018)
• Program Expenses – 78.2%
• Fundraising – 13.7%
• Administrative – 7.9%
• Salary for Top Official (2018) – $850,000 (Derek Rapp, President/CEO)

Children’s Diabetes Foundation

Charity Navigator Star Rating – 2 out of 4 — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator Score – 73.87 (out of 100)
• Financial Score – 63.05 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 100 (out of 100)
• 2015 Total Revenue – $3,203,693
• 2015 Total Expenses – $3,453,736
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal Year ending 12/2015)
• Program Expenses – 60.7%
• Fundraising – 26.8%
• Administrative – 12.3%
• Salary for Top Official (2015) – $157,083 (Dana Davis, Vice Chairman/Executive Director)

American Diabetes Association

Charity Navigator Star Rating – 2 out of 4 — Link to the full report

• Overall Charity Navigator score – 73.21 (out of 100)
• Financial score – 62.24 (out of 100)
• Accountability and Transparency – 97.00 (out of 100)
• 2015 Total revenue – $182,144,769
• 2015 Total expenses – $182,281,636
• Expenses Breakdown (Fiscal Year ending 12/2015)
• Program expenses – 66.6%
• Fundraising – 28.4%
• Administrative – 4.8%
• Salary for Top Official (2015) – $343,342 (Kevin Hagen, Chief Executive Officer)

This article updates a previous article published in 2014.