The Canary Fund

“In accordance with common practice in the nonprofit community, the Board delegates certain matters to The Executive Committee, which is empowered to act between board meetings if necessary, and sometimes with specifically delegated authority to act in particular areas on behalf of the full board.”

“Board members Don Listwin (President) and Hilary Valentine (Director) are related to each other as husband and wife. Board member Don Listwin sits on the Board of directors of fellow board member Michael Ball's company.”

“Form 990 is prepared by an outside tax professional. The form is then reviewed by the organization's management. After a full review, the final version of the tax return is provided to all members of the organization's voting body. A representative of management authorizes the final form 990 which is then e-filed with the internal revenue service.”

“Members of the Board of Directors review all potential conflicts of interest periodically. Top management and all Board members are required to disclose potential conflicts and any related party affiliations. The organization seeks full transparency on all relationships. Any potential conflicts (in fact or appearance) are discussed openly and resolved in accordance with the organization's policies and procedures.”

“Members of the board of directors review the compensation of all high-level personnel periodically in accordance with IRS rules and regulations. Efforts are made to secure compensation data from industry sources in order to determine competitiveness and appropriateness of salaries. Every effort is made to ensure that the process is thorough and transparent in accordance with IRS guidelines and the organization's policies and procedures.”

“Compensation of other personnel and highly compensated employees is reviewed periodically by members of management. Efforts are made to secure compensation data from industry sources in order to determine competitiveness and appropriateness of salaries and all related benefits. All decisions are then documented in personnel files.”

“All of the organization's governing documents, financial statements, and other legal filings are maintained in a secure environment and held available for inspection by tax authorities and the general public. Tax returns are posted annually to our website and to www.guidestar.org (where they are available for viewing as electronic copies) and are also available by request from the organization's office.”

“OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Canary Prostate Cancer Program:The specific goals of the Canary Foundation Prostate program are to develop tests that can: 1) Identify lethal prostate cancers at an early (curable) stage; 2) Classify prostate cancers as either 1) potentially lethal; best treated with aggressive therapy b) non-lethal: suitable for continued monitoring without aggressive treatment. Given the large body of published but invalidated candidate markers for prostate cancer, we are focusing our initial efforts on evaluating the performance of a selected set of promising biomarkers. Candidate biomarkers are evaluated based on their ability to detect lethal prostate cancers at an early (curable) stage and to discriminate lethal from non-lethal prostate cancer. We are considering both fluid-based and tissue-based biomarkers for prognostic applications. The Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS) enrolls men who opt for active surveillance of their early stage prostate cancer. Men are followed closely for signs of cancer progression, donating biospecimens and clinical data for a minimum of 5 years or until receiving treatment for their disease. The biospecimens and clinical data provide a valuable resource to test promising biomarkers and predictive tools for their use in the active surveillance setting.Canary Pancreatic Cancer Program:Canary is focused on developing diagnostics with high sensitivity and specificity to detect otherwise lethal pancreatic cancers at an early stage when they can be cured through surgical resection. We anticipate that no single biomarker will be sufficient to create a test with the required sensitivity and specificity to detect pancreatic cancer early. Instead, a definitive diagnosis will rely upon combinations of biomarkers and upon blood and imaging tests used together. To this end, the Canary pancreatic cancer researchers have collaborated to discover and validate biomarkers that will provide the basis for blood and imaging tests for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Canary Breast Cancer Program:The breast cancer program is working to improve early detection of potentially lethal breast cancer by identifying biomarkers that complement existing imaging methods and by developing new imaging alternatives.. Breast cancer researchers are testing a modified ultrasound method to detect breast cancer at earliest stages. As such, it offers great potential in detecting tumors that are very small pinpointing the location for surgery or target therapies before the cancer has the chance to spread. Canary is committed to funding safe, efficient, cost effective tests for diagnosing cancer early.Canary Collaborations Program:Canary Foundation believes that a collaborative, coordinated approach is necessary to achieve our goals. Our multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional Early Detection Program provides a great example of this philosophy in action. Our foundation partnerships link mutual scientific expertise and entrepreneurial spirit in the hopes of advancing research in the diagnostic arena of early cancer detection. We partner with research institutions, foundations, industry and government organizations. Examples of collaborating programs include the Canary Center at Stanford, the CRUK Cambridge Centre Early Detection Programme at the University of Cambridge in England, and the Early Cancer Detection Initiative at the University of Calgary in Canada. We provide scientific program management to make sure that all funded research activities among the scientists and clinicians at the various partner institutions are on track and that any obstacles are rapidly addressed and overcome.”

“Change in value of long-term pledges receivable = -$12820”

“Under the California Nonprofit Integrity Act, an exempt organization with annual revenue of $2 million or more is required to have an Audit Committee to select an audit Firm, review the audit, and approve the audit of its annual financial statements.”