A Word from the Treasurer
I hope everyone is staying safe during these challenging times.  The MSA Coalition has always operated virtually, so we have had no trouble with our accounting, although processing of some check donations has been delayed due to concerns about mail pickup.  Safety must always be a priority for all of us.
Nonprofit financial tracking and reporting is always critical as it informs service beneficiaries and donors about how a charity is performing. Providing the public with a trustworthy financial picture can be long and tedious, especially for an organization like the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition, which is experiencing incredible revenue and service growth. The process is both worthwhile and important:

Form 990’s are complex documents that are a bit difficult to read but give you a great deal of detail on how a non-profit makes and spends its money.  I have summarized the key information below, but you can find the complete Form 990 on our website.
I am pleased to report the MSA Coalition had a fabulous year overall, thanks to several unexpected bequests from patients who lost their battle with MSA but remembered all the patients still fighting.  Because of these incredibly generous patients, we ended the year with total contributions of $4.1 million and total revenue, including interest income, of $4.2 million.   This compares to total revenue of just over $1 million in 2018. 
We continue to control our expenses carefully and held total expenses to $630 thousand for the year.  Of that, $544.9 thousand, or 86.3%, was spent on program expenses, which are expenditures that directly benefit patients and care partners, such as research, patient support and education, education of medical professionals and raising awareness of MSA in the community at large.  Other expenses included $73.6 thousand, or 11.7%, for general and administrative expenses, including legal and audit expense, and $12.8 thousand, or 2.0%, for fundraising expenses, which is primarily credit card processing fees.
Overall, we ended the year with total assets of $5.8 million, total liabilities of $.4 million and net assets of $5.4 million.  Of the net assets, $3.3 million is restricted, primarily to research, and the remainder, or $2.1 million is unrestricted.  This strong financial position places the organization in good stead to continue to fund the research that is so important to finding a treatment and ultimately a cure for MSA and also to continue to educate and support patients, carepartners and medical professionals so that MSA patients and their families can have their best life possible while living with MSA.  We will continue our fundraising efforts as we strive to best support this community.
Keeping the MSA Coalition a strong and sustainable organization is paramount as we continue to focus on using our funds in ways that most effectively support the patient and caregiver community that we strive to serve.  We are proud to continue to fund research projects and have funded more than $2 million in research at nearly 30 institutions worldwide since the inception of the research funding program in 2013.  Managed carefully, our assets, including the generous bequests we received in 2019, will enable us to expand our funding of promising research for years to come and to serve the patient and carepartner population with trusted information and emotional support. We will continue to rely on your generous contributions and outreach to your network to help us with vital funding efforts that will enable us to maintain this momentum and continue to meet our goals.  To learn more about how you can help, please visit our fundraising page.
As you consider charitable giving in the coming years, I encourage you to review financials such as 990s and to evaluate each charity on criteria developed by nonprofit watchdog groups. The Board of Directors of the MSA Coalition is confident that you will be impressed and proud of our performance as we continue to improve the quality of life and build hope for those impacted by MSA.
-- Carol Langer
 
 

For the past seven years, Kacie Hunter and her family have sponsored the Dan Cavanagh Running Over MSA 5K and Poker Rally.  Mr. Cavanagh had MSA and passed away in October, 2015.  Dan was a beloved citizen of Chatsworth, IL from the time he was born.
We are grateful to be a beneficiary of this important and ongoing effort that supports the mission of the Coalition.  The event has an impressive list of sponsors and grows bigger and better every year.  If you are near Chatsworth, IL, consider taking part in this event.  Registration details are available here.  And if you want to participate virtually, that's an option, too.  Check it out!  Our thanks to all involved in this event!