Animal Cancer Foundation

"YPTC truly understands our needs"

Animal Cancer Foundation, based in Nassau County, New York, was founded in 1999 with a mission to fund research in and increase public awareness of comparative oncology, studies of naturally occurring cancers in companion animals similar to cancers in humans. ACF supports multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary cancer research that unites veterinary and human oncologists, pathologists, geneticists and others to unlock more information about cancer as a disease and move new treatments more quickly to the clinical setting. With 1 in 4 dogs, 1 in 5 cats and 1 in 3 people developing cancer in their lifetimes, affecting quality of life and often shortening life expectancy, ACF is committed to changing the paradigm.

ACF had an existing relationship with an accountant who joined YPTC several years ago and was simultaneously introduced to a Regional Director through webinars hosted by mutual acquaintances. Barbara S Cohen, Executive Director says, “All roads seemed to be leading us to YPTC. We were initially impressed by the scope of services they could offer and their specialization, so that not-for-profit wasn’t an “add on” department.”

Barbara explained that ACF had grown as an organization, but did not have the means to hire a CFO. “As we began receiving gifts and grants, such as stock donations and donor-advised fund grants, the board recognized the need for someone to maintain best practices and help us to prepare for financial reviews and internal audits.”

She continues, “Our team at YPTC truly understands our needs as a smaller not-for-profit with large goals. They have helped to create quarterly financial reports that are clearly focused on helping board members to understand the financial position of our organization and they have been willing to attend meetings to walk all of us through the best practices and systems. As a CEO, I’m a strong believer in re-investment in the infrastructure of an organization. Not-for-profits, like for-profits, need to scaffold to grow and YPTC organically assists in that process.”

Barbara specifically mentions Theresa Botti, David Judge and Ellie Hume from YPTC, “[They] have all been supportive of ACF. We would be remiss not to give a special shout out to Theresa who is a lifeline for our organization. She is always calm, always diligent and always focused on our best interests.”

Barbara concludes by saying, “We would highly recommend YPTC, especially since both the bookkeeping and CFO positions have become more complex over time and the need must be met by more than one person. It is an advantage to have a team. At first as CEO, I was worried about exceeding our budget for bookkeeping, but I have found that time saved has reduced headaches for our internal team and the board.”