The 2014 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released.  Total program revenue was up 7.5%, but salaries were up 17.5%.  The number of employees increased from 161 to 179 (11%).

Expenses and vendors

Payroll was by far the largest single expense, at $9.1M (up 19%).  Travel expenses were up sharply, from $610K in 2013 to $1,377K, a jump of 126%, but this would be because the 2013 international convention was in Malaysia.  Internet services cost $78K (presumably hosting and/or connectivity to WHQ).  $19K was spent on “speakers”, and $11K on translations.

Expenditures on club-building and leadership training by world (not TM) region are interesting, it does cost significantly more to support members outside of North America.

• North America, $1.1M
• East Asia/Pacific, $2.1M
• Europe, $534K
• Middle East/North Africa: $266K
• Central America/Caribbean: $66K
• Sub-Saharan Africa: $250K
• South America: $4K
• South Asia: $316K

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

• Walsworth Print Group, $1.7M for printing and mailing, 6% increase from previous year
• Asendia USA, $1.6M for shipping, no change
• AmericanEagle.com, $390K for web design, new to the list
• NogginLabs, $367K for REP work, about the same as the previous year
• Will Do Company, $362K for supplies, new to the list

It appears that Noggin’s work on the REP will be around $1M overall, if they work at the same pace for three years.  Strangely, no health insurance company is listed in the tax return, despite paying Cigna $1.1M in 2013, and Freeman is not listed either (they put on the annual convention, $381K in 2013).  16 more companies were paid at least $100K in 2013.

Employee compensation

Staff paid at least $100K must be reported, and they were:

• CEO Dan Rex, $396K total compensation, 13.5% increase
• COO Sally Newell-Cohn, $240K, 18.2% increase
• IT Director Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $215K, 2012 was a partial year)
• Controller John Bond, $154K, 4.7% increase
• Member Support Director Darci Maenpa, $138K, 14.0% increase
• Club Services Manager Kristen Rolapp, $113K, 5.6% increase
• IT Manager Mark Santos, $105K, new to the list
• PR Manager Suzanne Frey, $105K, new to the list
• IT Manager Ray Gallagher, $104K, new to the list

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue was up by 7.5%, roughly congruent with membership growth, to a total of $31.8M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $5.2M in revenue (an average of almost $16 per member).  The annual convention pulled in $1.4M.  Magazine advertising earned $31K.  For materials sold, the average profit margin was 12%.

Total assets grew slightly, by 3.4%, to $50.8M, of which $44.2M is cash and investments, equal to 1.3 years of expenses, in the range of the recommendation for non-profits to have 1-2 years of expenses saved up in reserves.  The land and building at WHQ is valued at a net of $4.9M.  Inventory has decreased slightly again, by 5.4%, to $736K, indicating continuing focus on inventory management.

In a first, Toastmasters International had to report on individual donors.  This is only required if someone gave $5K or more, and in 2013, Matthew Winthrop of Boston gave $50K, apparently from his estate (he died on Jan. 1, 2013).

Click here for the full 2014 tax return.

2013 tax return analysis

2012 tax return analysis

2011 tax return analysis