What are the main revenue sources for the American Heart Association (donations, grants, corporate sponsorships, investments)?
Executive summary
The American Heart Association (AHA) draws its revenue mainly from individual donors, foundations and estates, with additional income from corporate support, mission‑aligned products and services (like CPR training), and investment earnings; corporate gifts are a minority of total revenue — corporate donations are reported at about 15% and pharma/biotech/device companies around 3% of revenue according to AHA statements [1] [2]. Audited financial statements and Form 990s provide detailed breakdowns for fiscal years such as 2023–24 [3] [4].
1. Where most money actually comes from — Individuals, foundations and estates
AHA emphasizes that “most of the revenue recorded… comes from sources other than corporations,” listing contributions from individuals, foundations and estates first among revenue streams [2]. The organization’s public materials and annual reports repeatedly state that individual and foundation gifts remain the primary funding base that powers research, education and community programs [5] [2].
2. Corporate support — Significant but not dominant
AHA discloses corporate funding and stresses it as supportive rather than controlling; a recent AHA explainer and disclosures say corporate donations make up about 15% of the Association’s revenue and that only roughly 3% of revenue comes from pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device firms specifically [1] [2]. AHA also publishes pharma/device disclosure documents and a national‑center corporate support schedule to make those relationships transparent [3] [2].
3. Earned revenue — Services, products and ventures
Beyond gifts, AHA generates revenue from mission‑aligned products and services such as CPR and emergency cardiovascular care training, and through American Heart Association Ventures (venture funds and investments into companies commercializing evidence‑based medicine) — activities the AHA highlights in its annual report [5] [2]. These earned revenues and venture returns are part of a diversified funding mix the Association describes in its audited financial statements [6].
4. Investment earnings and financial reserves
Investment earnings contribute to AHA’s revenue picture; the Association lists investment earnings among its revenue sources and noted that investment activity supports its long‑term mission funding [2]. The audited financial statements and Form 990 are the authoritative places to see the size of investment income relative to other categories for a given fiscal year [6] [4].
5. How much money overall — public figures and filings
Concrete totals vary year to year; independent databases and filings show annual revenue near the high hundreds of millions. ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer lists revenue figures and net assets for recent filings, while AHA’s own audited financials and Form 990 provide line‑item revenue totals for fiscal years such as 2023–24 [7] [6] [4]. For example, public summaries and third‑party snapshots have reported AHA revenue in the roughly $800–$1,000 million range in recent filings [7] [8].
6. Transparency and controls — what AHA says about conflicts
AHA asserts it has “strict policies to prevent donations from influencing its science content” and that grants are subject to independent peer review, framing corporate gifts as important but constrained by policies designed to protect scientific integrity [1]. The Association publishes pharma/device disclosures and encourages readers to consult audited statements and the Form 990 for details [3] [2] [4].
7. Competing perspectives and limitations in the record
AHA’s materials and a company‑produced explainer (Medium post) emphasize the predominance of non‑corporate funding and downplay corporate influence [1] [2]. External watchdog summaries (CharityWatch) evaluate program‑spending ratios but are not quoted here for specific revenue shares in the provided sources [9]. Available sources do not mention detailed third‑party critiques or independent academic analyses of how corporate funding may shape agenda‑setting beyond what AHA’s own disclosures state — those critiques are not found in current reporting provided here (not found in current reporting).
8. What to consult next if you want the numbers
For the clearest, line‑by‑line breakdown consult AHA’s audited financial statements and the IRS Form 990 for the fiscal year in question, and review the pharma/device disclosure PDFs that show corporate contributions in proportion to total revenue [6] [4] [2]. For summarized context, AHA’s 2023–24 annual report and the AHA explainer article give accessible overviews of revenue mix and policy safeguards [5] [1].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided AHA documents and related summaries; independent external investigations or academic studies about the impact of corporate funding are not included in the sources supplied (not found in current reporting).