Chai Lifeline is an international health support network, providing social, emotional, financial and practical assistance to children, families and communities facing illness, crisis, or loss. Chai Lifeline offers more than two-dozen year-round programs and services, including case management and counseling; meals delivered to hospitals and homes; transportation to medical appointments; hospital and in-home respite; emergency financial assistance; insurance advocacy; trips, retreats and special events; project Chai crisis intervention, trauma, and bereavement support; clinical interventions; educational resources; I-shine afterschool programming; and its flagship summer programs camp simcha, camp simcha special, and camp simcha without borders for children and teens with life-threatening and lifelong illness.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
83¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$3.6M paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2023 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $1.9M a year · 7% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
83%
of spending
Looks good: 83% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$3.6M
to officers and key staff · 12% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 12% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
<1 mo
of spending, in cash
Worth a look: 0.8 months of spending in cash; under 1.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
17
named funders · $146K
Looks good: 17 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$9.6M
33% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 33% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
18
of 18 voting members
Looks good: 18 of 18 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$30.7M
+6% vs prior year
Spent
$30.3M
To programs
83%
Net assets
$19.1M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$30.7M
FY2023▲ +6%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$22.9M
FY2021$32.4M
FY2022$29.0M
FY2023$30.7M
FY2024$32.8M
Expenses
$30.3M
FY2023▲ +5%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$22.0M
FY2021$24.7M
FY2022$28.8M
FY2023$30.3M
FY2024$32.3M
Net assets
$19.1M
FY2023▼ -8%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$13.4M
FY2021$20.5M
FY2022$20.7M
FY2023$19.1M
FY2024$19.5M

From the FY2023 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jan 1991.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

83 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 83% · $25.1M Management & general 8% · $2.4M Fundraising 9% · $2.8M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

31 people listed on the 990; $3.6M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Chief Executive Officer
$503,781Pt VII · Sec A
Bike4chai/ NJ Executive Director
$339,977Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Financial Officer
$339,539Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Development Officer
$285,172Pt VII · Sec A
Achim B'Yachad Regional Director
$282,796Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Marketing Officer
$270,642Pt VII · Sec A
Director of Client Services
$235,092Pt VII · Sec A
Director of Bike4chai
$229,622Pt VII · Sec A

Stephen Scholar’s $472K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 73rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 2901 $10–100M health care nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Stephen Scholar$472,345$503,781$390,955$390,845$302,485
Israel Fried$357,167$339,977$340,294$307,556$355,358
Esther Bergman$328,638$339,539$296,374$247,678—
Hershey Katz—$282,796$263,883$306,247—
Elliot Halperin$226,610$285,172$264,624——
Matthew Yaniv$283,740$270,642$245,291$191,519$195,293
Arye Adest$264,054$227,501$231,114$201,390$202,760
Levi Y Katlowitz$222,868$226,228$258,003$207,804$216,600

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Provides emotional, financial, and practical support, including counseling, meals, transportation, and summer camps, to families and children facing serious illness, crisis, or loss.

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3 programs · $24.7M · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

Family and Community Programs

These programs restore a sense of normalcy to young patients and their families while fighting illness by enhancing emotional and social bonds. In the past year, thousands of big brothers and sisters served as mentors to ill children and siblings.

$12.0Mprogram expense
02

Chai lifeline operates two medically supervised summer camp programs on one campus for seriously ill children with life-threatening and lifelong illnesses. Camp simcha is open to children and teens with cancer and other blood-based illnesses.

$6.6Mprogram expense
03

Hospital and home-based services enable the family unit to continue to function during medical crises; providing in-hospital support to patients and caregivers; and bringing joy and hope to young patients and their families. Initial support begins with a case manager's evaluation that identifies needs and suggests programmatic responses.

$6.2Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
See all 17 funders →
Grants paid · 20 grants · $4.9M · 2020–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$762,785
American Friends of ChaiyanuNY · FY2024$147,161
Congregation Chai LifelineNY · FY2024$147,044
Jcs Seeds of HopeMD · FY2024$14,450
Unitemized GrantFY2023$742,665
Congregation Chai LifelineNY · FY2023$145,603
American Friends of ChaiyanuNY · FY2023$112,278
Unitemized GrantFY2022$740,615
Congregation Chai LifelineNY · FY2022$134,859
American Friends of ChaiyanuNY · FY2022$36,033
Unitemized GrantFY2021$580,312
American Friends of ChaiyanuNY · FY2021$214,923
Congregation Chai LifelineNY · FY2021$143,389
Unitemized GrantFY2020$525,519
See all 20 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2023 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$30.7M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$39.1M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$139K
Investment incomeLn 3$35K
Money outPt IX
$30.3M
Ln 25
Programscol B$25.1M
Managementcol C$2.4M
Fundraisingcol D$2.8M
Owns and owesPt X
$19.1M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.1M
Total assetsLn 16$28.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$9.6M
PeoplePt VI, VII
31
listed · VII A
PaidVII A13
Voting boardVI 1a18
IndependentVI 1b18
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$39.1M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$291K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$15.6M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$139K
Investment incomeLn 3$35K
Gains on assetsLn 7−$104
Total revenueLn 12$30.7M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$1.1M
SavingsLn 2$1.0M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$2.1M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$6K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$16.5M
Other assetsLn 15$3.4M
Total assetsLn 16$28.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$9.6M
Net assetsLn 32$19.1M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5238
VolunteersI 64,137
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY23End FY23
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$3.3M$2.1M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$27K$6K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$18.3M$16.5M
Total assetsLn 16$30.2M$28.7M
LiabilitiesLn 26$9.5M$9.6M
Net assetsLn 32$20.7M$19.1M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$294K$294K
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$743K$743K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$101K$101K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$2.5M$1.8M$332K$418K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$9.1M$7.5M$847K$805K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$210K$175K$20K$15K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$501K$406K$44K$50K
Payroll taxesLn 10$1.3M$1.0M$145K$133K
Legal feesLn 11b$213K$213K
Accounting feesLn 11c$184K$184K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$1.4M$1.2M$58K$123K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$336K$261K$2K$73K
Office expensesLn 13$3.3M$2.5M$118K$642K
Information technologyLn 14$399K$273K$21K$105K
OccupancyLn 16$2.1M$2.0M$165K$13K
TravelLn 17$1.8M$1.6M$164K$43K
InterestLn 20$250K$220K$21K$9K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$1.1M$1.1M$65K
InsuranceLn 23$378K$337K$25K$16K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$4.1M$3.8M$21K$325K
Total functional expensesLn 25$30.3M$25.1M$2.4M$2.8M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest $32.8M$32.3M$513K$19.5M 990 PDF
FY2023 Viewing $30.7M$30.3M$337K$19.1M 990 PDF
FY2022 $29.0M$28.8M$252K$20.7M 990 PDF
FY2021 $32.4M$24.7M$7.7M$20.5M 990 PDF
FY2020 $22.9M$22.0M$883K$13.4M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $30,680,827 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $38,043,895$39,090,038
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $250,074$139,338
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $3,046$34,750
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$9,272,542−$8,583,299
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $29,024,473$30,680,827
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $1,023,978$1,137,800
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $13,275,457$13,639,560
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $14,473,469$15,566,093
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $28,772,904$30,343,453
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $251,569$337,374
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body18
VI-1b Independent voting members18
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $30,680,827 across 10 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$15,627,325
VIII-1d Related organizations$635,000
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$22,827,713
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$291,371
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$39,090,038
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $139,338$139,338
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $34,854$34,854
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax −$104−$104
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$8,583,299−$8,583,299
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $139,338 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$8,548,549$30,680,827
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $30,343,453 across 20 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $294,069$294,069
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $742,665$742,665
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $101,066$101,066
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $1,755,256 · Management $331,647 · Fundraising $418,097$2,505,000
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $7,464,912 · Management $846,823 · Fundraising $804,933$9,116,668
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $175,292 · Management $20,100 · Fundraising $14,782$210,174
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $406,244 · Management $44,135 · Fundraising $50,162$500,541
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $1,029,048 · Management $145,315 · Fundraising $132,814$1,307,177
IX-11b Legal feesManagement $213,314$213,314
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $184,305$184,305
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $1,246,529 · Management $57,532 · Fundraising $123,338$1,427,399
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $261,363 · Management $1,873 · Fundraising $72,724$335,960
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $2,492,296 · Management $118,488 · Fundraising $642,211$3,252,995
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $273,081 · Management $21,002 · Fundraising $104,983$399,066
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $1,961,384 · Management $165,419 · Fundraising $12,646$2,139,449
IX-17 TravelPrograms $1,550,120 · Management $164,475 · Fundraising $43,198$1,757,793
IX-20 InterestPrograms $220,445 · Management $21,033 · Fundraising $8,862$250,340
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $1,064,884 · Management $65,003$1,129,887
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $337,257 · Management $25,373 · Fundraising $15,838$378,468
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $3,751,145 · Management $20,770 · Fundraising $325,202$4,097,117
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $25,127,056 · Management $2,446,607 · Fundraising $2,769,790$30,343,453
Part X · Balance sheet $28,662,220 assets, 16 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $3,277,563$1,062,195
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investments$1,022,145
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $4,393,222$6,529,351
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $509,854$105,200
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $18,281,036$16,537,421
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $27,118$6,352
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $3,715,545$3,399,556
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $30,204,338$28,662,220
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $1,972,394$1,836,290
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $66,423$1,031,435
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $4,416,088$3,911,580
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $9,454,498$9,597,567
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $20,038,323$18,353,136
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $711,517$711,517
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $20,749,840$19,064,653
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $30,204,338$28,662,220
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $19,064,653 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$30,680,827
XI-2 Total expenses$30,343,453
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$337,374
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$20,749,840
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$176,192
XI-8 Prior period adjustments−$2,198,753
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$19,064,653

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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