St. Baldrick’s Foundation: What It Funds and How to Apply

St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a US nonprofit that raises money, largely through volunteer head-shaving events, and uses it to fund childhood cancer research grants. This guide serves two readers: researchers who want to know which of its grants fit their career stage and how the application works, and donors or families who want to understand what the organization is. Everything below is as described on the foundation’s own pages on 2026-11-07. Programs change, so confirm current categories and cycles on the official site before planning an application.

What St. Baldrick’s Foundation is and who runs it

As described on its About page, St. Baldrick’s is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Monrovia, California, "powered by volunteers and donors." It works with pediatric oncologists to choose the research it funds, and every grant it funds is for childhood cancer only. The About page says it can fund more childhood cancer grants than any organization other than the U.S. government; the foundation’s blog describes it as the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants. Those are the foundation’s statements about itself, not an independent ranking.

It is a private funder, which places it alongside other private foundation research funders rather than government agencies; the broader landscape is mapped in the cancer research funding overview.

Is Saint Baldrick a real saint?

No. The foundation’s blog explains that "St. Baldrick" is a mashup of St. Patrick’s Day and the word "bald." The name comes from the head-shaving events: according to the same post, the effort began when three men challenged each other to shave their heads, and the first event, at an Irish pub in Manhattan, had a goal of $17,000 and raised $104,000. The event series grew from that single event in 2000.

Is St. Baldrick’s a legitimate organization?

Facts the foundation itself states: it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and it has received the National Cancer Institute Peer Review Funder designation for its grant review. Independent charity evaluators publish their own assessments of nonprofits; this guide does not repeat or replace them, so check an evaluator directly if you are deciding whether to donate.

What it funds

The foundation’s pages describe four broad areas: hospital funding for high-impact clinical trials for rare cancers; collaborative research across institutions and continents; training the next generation of childhood cancer researchers; and supportive care research, covering side effects, survivor health and psychosocial outcomes. Its blog states that its largest grant in the previous year went to the Children’s Oncology Group, at almost $6.7 million, and that it has given more than $60 million to that group to date.

The grants page lists these named grant types: Consortium Research Grant, Cooperative Research Grant (Children’s Oncology Group), Genius Award, Infrastructure Grant, International Scholar Research Grant, Robert J. Arceci Innovation Award, Robert J. Arceci International Innovation Award, Fellow, Foundation Innovation Award, Scholar, Summer Fellow, Supportive Care Research Grant, and Beneficiary Outside the U.S.

Eligibility and grant categories by career stage

Eligibility is set per category on the foundation’s for-researchers page. The table summarizes the categories described there on 2026-11-07.

Category	Cycle	Who it is for	Stated amount and term
Scholars	Spring	Early-career researchers	Up to $110,000 per year, three-year minimum
International Scholars	Spring	Researchers from low- and middle-income countries, per World Bank classification	See the official page
Research Grant	Spring	Hypothesis-driven laboratory, clinical or epidemiological projects	$100,000 per year for two years
Survivorship and Supportive Care Research Grant	Spring	Supportive care and survivorship research	One year
Summer Fellowships	Spring	Undergraduate, graduate and medical students	$5,000 total, paid to the mentor’s institution; no letter of intent
Infrastructure Grants	Fall	Institutional support; the example given is Clinical Research Associate support, with preference for high-need, low-philanthropy areas	$25,000 to $50,000
Fellows	Fall	Fellowship-stage researchers	Two years, with an optional third
Arceci Innovation Award; FIGHT KIDS CANCER award	By nomination	Nominees only	See the official page

Application steps

The for-researchers page describes a two-stage process through the ProposalCentral portal:

1. Create a ProposalCentral account.
2. The principal investigator starts the letter of intent (LOI) or application; other people can be given submission access.
3. Complete the LOI from the foundation’s template.
4. If invited, submit the full application after it has been validated in the portal.
5. A confirmation email is sent, and the submission appears under "Submitted."

The LOI stage works like the pre-proposal screens other funders use; see the letter of intent definition for the general concept. The foundation lists [email protected] as its grants contact.

Typical timeline phases

The foundation runs two cycles a year. In each, the order is the same: LOIs open, an LOI deadline passes, LOI decisions are announced, invited applicants submit full applications, and awards start. The spring cycle covers Scholars, International Scholars, Research Grants and Supportive Care grants, with awards starting in July; the fall cycle covers Infrastructure Grants and Fellows, with Infrastructure awards starting in December or January and Fellowship awards in July. Research Grants have an earlier LOI deadline than the other spring categories. Deadlines are at 5 p.m. Eastern. Exact dates change each year, so take them from the current official page. The foundation states that requests made outside its cycles cannot be considered.

Review is by volunteer experts. For Infrastructure Grants, the stated criteria are need, expected outcomes and local St. Baldrick’s participation.

Common mistakes

• Missing the cycle. Because out-of-cycle requests cannot be considered, a late idea waits for the next cycle.
• Choosing a category that does not match your career stage. Scholar, Fellow and Research Grant categories are defined by stage and project type.
• Treating nomination-only awards as open calls. The Arceci Innovation Award and FIGHT KIDS CANCER award are by nomination.
• Expecting to submit a full application first. Apart from Summer Fellowships, which have no LOI, the full application follows an invitation after the LOI stage.

Related programs

St. Baldrick’s is one of several funders of cancer research. For how it sits beside government and other private funders, read the cancer research funding overview. Other named cancer research bodies covered on this site include SWOG and Barncancerfonden.

FAQ

What is the best childhood cancer charity to donate to?

This guide does not rank charities, and the foundation’s own pages do not rank any. Donors typically compare an organization’s stated program focus, its financial reporting and the assessments of independent charity evaluators. St. Baldrick’s states that all of its grants are for childhood cancer only.

What are some charities that support children with cancer?

Organizations differ in focus: research funding, family support or clinical care. St. Baldrick’s describes itself as a research funder. The cancer research funding overview maps the wider field of cancer research funders.

Does St. Baldrick’s fund research outside the United States?

Its grant list includes International Scholar Research Grants, aimed at researchers from low- and middle-income countries, and a Beneficiary Outside the U.S. grant type.

Sources

• St. Baldrick’s Foundation, For Researchers: stbaldricks.org/for-researchers, read 2026-11-07.
• St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Grants: stbaldricks.org/grants, read 2026-11-07.
• St. Baldrick’s Foundation, About Us: stbaldricks.org/about-us, read 2026-11-07.
• St. Baldrick’s Foundation blog, 10 Facts About St. Baldrick’s: blog.stbaldricks.org/10-facts-about-st-baldricks, read 2026-11-07.