Which Cryonics Organization is the Biggest?

Membership, Assets, and Reach

In previous essays on this blog, I have examined the comparative transparency and funding of the main cryonics organizations. I have been asked to do something similar for the question of organizational size.

We can measure size in several ways:

• Number of members

• Number of members with cryopreservation arrangements

• Number of patients

• Rate of growth

• Amount of assets

• Size of population served

Size is therefore not one measure of an organization but a collection of measures that tells us a great deal. It does not tell us everything that matters. Tremendous capabilities have limited effect if they are not deployed and executed effectively. That is a matter of leadership, strategy, and organizational culture. The extent to which an organization is open to or resistant to new ideas will influence both effectiveness and probably future growth. The extent of transparency will also affect both effectiveness and trustworthiness and therefore the ability to attract new members.

By the standards of most industries, biostasis organizations are small. Despite that, Alcor has survived for 52 years and Cryonics Institute for 48 years. That is a great start but we have a long way to go! Before we get to the comparison between today’s organizations, let us consider the reasons to aim for growth.

Why size matters

Economies of scale

When operational costs are spread over a larger membership base, per-member cost can be reduced. Economies of scale are probably easier to realize in the membership and patient storage functions than in standby, stabilization, and transport (SST). SST will benefit to some extent once sufficient size and geographic density of members has been reached.

Financial stability

Larger organizations may have more diverse revenue streams, providing financial resilience to withstand economic downturns or unexpected expenses. Greater financial reserves increase the likelihood of fulfilling long-term obligations, such as maintaining cryopreserved individuals for decades or even centuries.

Technological advancements

Larger organizations have more resources to invest in research and development, enabling improvements in cryopreservation techniques, storage, and future revival technologies.

Improved facilities

Larger organizations can afford state-of-the-art facilities designed for long-term cryopreservation, including advanced cooling systems, monitoring technologies, and security measures.

Experienced and specialized staff

A bigger organization can hire more specialized personnel, improving the quality of care during cryopreservation procedures. They are also better positioned to train staff, ensuring that operations are conducted with precision and consistency. They can employ skilled professionals, such as cryobiologists, engineers, and technicians, ensuring high-quality preservation procedures and facility maintenance.

Operational redundancy

A bigger organization can afford to build redundancies in its systems, such as multiple facilities, backup storage, and additional staff. This reduces the risk of operational failure due to equipment malfunction, personnel shortages, or other issues. Redundancy ensures continuity even if one facility or system experiences a problem.

Legal and regulatory expertise

Larger organizations can maintain in-house or contracted legal teams to handle regulatory challenges, contracts, and compliance with local and international laws. This expertise reduces the risk of legal issues disrupting operations.

International capabilities and global reach

Bigger organizations can establish international networks, making cryonics services more accessible to people in various locations. They can build partnerships with local medical facilities and emergency response teams, ensuring rapid and effective response in case of a member’s death.

Public relations and education

Larger organizations have the capacity to invest in public outreach, improving the perception of cryonics and attracting more members. They can organize conferences, publish research, and engage in advocacy to advance the field.

Community and support networks

A larger membership base fosters a stronger community of advocates and supporters, which can drive fundraising, volunteer efforts, and shared expertise. It also increases the probability of attracting influential supporters who can bring attention and funding to the organization.

Most of these benefits are not automatic or guaranteed especially in the absence of strong competition. Overall, it is better to deal with the challenges of size and growth than with being under-resourced and stagnant.

Comparing the organizations

Most total members

This one is trickier than it seems when considered superficially. The definition of “member” varies between organizations. Australian newcomer Southern Cryonics refers to their cryopreservation members as “subscribers” for the first five years of membership. That is for legal reason, and only 5+-year members can vote. (CI has a similar voting restriction but still refers to those individuals as members.)

Cryonics Institute presents its membership numbers in a way that does not clearly distinguish between those with and without cryopreservation arrangements and those who have agreements only to preserve cells or pets. I believe CI’s total member number includes patients so, to make a proper comparison, I have added Alcor’s patients to member to get total members.

Alcor has distinguished full members from Associate Members (a category that supposedly is being phased out). More recently, it has introduced a category of “basic members” who are paying membership dues but have not yet made cryopreservation arrangements. With these caveats, here are the totals using the latest numbers available as of today:

Cryonics Institute: 1979.

Alcor: 1828 (1450 cryopreservation members + 44 basic members + 95 Associate members + 239 patients). For many years, Alcor has carried quite a few members who are behind on their dues. In recent years, in some months there are a large number of cancellations. These tend to come in batches. So far in 2024, there are no large cancellation months so it may be that an upcoming month will reduce the total due to cancellations.

Tomorrow Biostasis: 650+

Most members with cryonics arrangements

Alcor: 1444

Cryonics Institute: 787 (funded members as of 09/28/24)

Tomorrow Biostasis: 650+ members (not confirmed whether these are all funded members)

Fastest growing cryonics organization

Tomorrow Biostasis.

Both Alcor and CI have been growing slowly. TB, so far, has been growing far more rapidly. TB accepted its first members in March 2020, reached 160 members in February 2021, 250 members in December 2022, and now has 650+ members. At the recent rate of growth, TB could match Alcor’s current total in 6 or 7 years. Tomorrow may catch up sooner if European Alcor members switch to Tomorrow, as seems likely.

Most patients

Cryonics Institute: 263  (11/20/24)

Alcor: 234 patients (10/31/24)

 Tomorrow: 7 patients. TB has the fastest initial growth in patients, with 7 after four years. Alcor had one patient in the first four years. 15 years before the second and third patients. This is not surprising since cryonics is now much more well-known that it was in the 1970s.

Note that CI has more patients than Alcor but just over half the number of funded members. As I have suggested before, this is presumably due to some combination of an older membership and greater willingness to accept last-minute cases. CI’s prices are also much easier to afford for last-minute cases lacking life insurance.

Most assets

Alcor separates assets for operations from those for long-term care whereas CI does not, so a direct comparison for patient care only is not possible.

Alcor: Alcor Care Trust Supporting Organization Investment Account (patient care funds) = $17,397,026 as of December 31, 2023. [The numbers on the webpage are outdated.]

In addition, the confusingly named Patient Care Trust (the old PCT is now the ACT): $1.5 million in unrestricted assets as of December 31, 2023.

Alcor Endowment: $7,142,224 as of December 31, 2023. (Approximately 2% of assets can be drawn per year.)

Alcor operations as of December 31, 2023:

Alcor Unrestricted Net Assets are $2.04 million

Temporary Restricted Net Assets are $2.7 million (includes the R&D Fund).

$1.117 million are Board Restricted assets.

Research & Development Fund: $3.2 million, as of December 31, 2023.

My thanks to Daniel Lescavage for providing more recent numbers than were available online.

Cryonics Institute: 12/31/23: Total assets: $12,453,089. This is operations and long-term care combined; the two are not separated. It also includes land, buildings, and vehicle.

Tomorrow Biostasis: TB + EBF. Insufficient information at this time.

Serves the largest population

I put this category last because it is hard to determine accurately. For example, in principle, Alcor and Cryonics Institute can cryopreserve people from just about anywhere on the planet – minus countries where it is illegal or where infrastructure makes it unworkable. Currently, Tomorrow Biostasis limits itself to areas where it can provide a timely response, which means a large part of Europe plus Florida, California, and New York.

For Alcor and CI should we count Europe? Alcor can and has done cases in Europe but these will be straight freezes unless there is sufficient time and funding to send a standby team. CI relies on Suspended Animation for SST and SA has been limited to the USA. So, if we require SST to count as proper geographical coverage, Canada would not count for CI. However, more recently CI has also used I.C.E., so Canada may be covered.

SST in Continental Europe may be impractical for Alcor and CI – although there is coverage when these organizations use the services of ICE (International Cryomedicine Experts – but I know that both organizations have conducted cases in the United Kingdom. That is thanks to Cryonics UK, which provides SST.

Tomorrow Biostasis covers 200 or so cities in mainland EU (about two-thirds of Europe, so 444 million) plus Florida: 22.6 million + California (39 million) + New York (19.5 million) for a total of 525 million.

If we assume that Alcor and perhaps CI can cover the USA, Canada, and the UK, we get a total of 346 + 69 + 39 = 454 million.

If my assumptions are correct, interestingly it looks like Tomorrow Biostasis now covers more people than the longer-established organizations.

If there are any errors, or if officials have more recent numbers, I would be happy to update this report.