This week, the ADA released their audited financial statements for 2017. This is the sixth year that we have reviewed these financial documents and the key point remains the same— the ADA focuses most of its resources on T2D research, advocacy and education and spends very little of its annual income on T1D research.
However, the JDCA continues to believe that the ADA, because of its national presence and fundraising effectiveness, has the potential to bring game-changing innovation to the T1D research community should their commitment to T1D research increase materially.
Summary Points:
- Only 4% of ADA annual income was spent on research specifically focused on T1D.
- 76% of ADA annual income was used for non-research activities, including education, advocacy, salary and overhead.
- 80% of ADA research spending is dedicated to T2D, in contrast to JDRF which focuses exclusively on type 1.
- Despite the ADA's focus on T2D, fundraising materials continue to target the T1D community and many utilize images of children.
- The ADA struggled with fundraising in 2017, driven by a huge $31 million decline in Donations and Special Events.
- Ten-year trends in research funding by the ADA are relatively consistent. "Appendix A" shows the absolute amount spent on research grants over time. "Appendix B" shows the percent of income used for research grants.
All financial data is contained in the ADA's publicly available financial documents, and project abstracts can be reviewed through the research project database.
Appendix A: ADA Total Annual Spending on Research Grants ($ millions)
Appendix B: Percent of Annual Income Spent on Research (All Types) by Year
