Analysis of 2022 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2022 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was down 10%, and expenses were up by $5.6M (24%), resulting in a “loss” (revenue minus expenses) of $2.6M (compared to a gain of $6M in 2021).  Total salaries were up 3.5% (48% of all expenses, down from 58% in 2021), and the number of employees is essentially unchanged at 164 (up by 1, less than 1%).

Expenses and vendors

The largest increase in expenses by dollar amount were district expenses (up $2.1M), “Conferences, conventions, and meetings” (up $1.1M), “other” (up $812K), property taxes ($633K, not previously broken out), travel ($633K; this was the first in-person convention after the pandemic), payroll (up $468K), and information technology (up $337K).

  • Payroll (including all related expenses, like benefits and pensions) was by far the largest single expense, at $13.8M (up $468K or 3.5% from 2021).
  • District expenses were up $2.1M or 62% at $5.4M (but still well below 2019 pre-pandemic levels at $9.7M).
  • Depreciation was up 24% to $1.7M.
  • “Conferences, conventions, and meetings” was up 186% (nearly tripled) to $1.6M (from $0.6M)
  • Information technology was up 38%, to $1.2M.
  • “Other” is up $812K to $2.1M, from $1.3M in 2021. (The IRS does not require this to be broken out into detail as long as it’s below 10% of the total expenses, and this is 7.5%.)

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. Much of this increase is just a return to pre-pandemic normal levels, such as in-person training and meetings.

  • North America, $651K (doubling $326K for the previous year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1.3M (up from $945K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $415K ($94K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $294K ($239K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $101K ($20K)
  • South America: $45K ($13K)
  • South Asia: $745K ($400K)
  • Europe, $538K ($243K)
  • Russia and neighboring states, $24K (a new category for 2022)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

  • Cornerstone Ondemand, $923K (up from $880K the previous year, the Pathways web site)
  • Dynatech Systems, India, $741K (up from $512K, “IT and software services/support”)
  • Intrado Digital Media (now named Notified), $613K (not listed in 2021, “web casting, audio/video production”)
  • Sourceved, India, $508K (up from $393K, “software development”)
  • RR Donnelley & Sons, $439K (down from $1.1M last year and $2.8M the previous year, logistics and communications, most TI store sales

12 more companies were paid at least $100K (each) in 2022.

Employee compensation

Staff designated as key must have compensation publicly reported (per U.S. non-profit tax law), listed below.

  • CEO Dan Rex, $411K base compensation (up 0.5%) plus a $66K bonus (same as 2021, 16% of base), for $517K total compensation (0.1% decrease due to some lower benefits)
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $306K (includes a 4.8% bonus, total comp up 1% from 2020)
  • Chief information officer Heidi Hollenbeck, $292K total comp (new this year)
  • Senior director enterprise app & project Michael McGurk, $200K (new this year)
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $191K (5% increase)
  • Marketing/communications director John Lurquin, $190K (11% increase)
  • HR director Gary Kinser, $175K (1% decrease, also due to some lower benefits)
  • Partnership and development director Angela Cunningham, $160K (4% increase)
  • Club quality and member support director Danielle Mitchell, $159K (6% increase)
  • Secretary/education director Kathryn Rynerson, $158K (5% increase)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation committee, a compensation survey or study, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  This year (like last year), the tax return indicates that the form 990 of other organizations was not used and that there was no written employment contract, while those boxes have always been checked in recent years. This is the second year that an independent compensation consultant was used.

Expenses included paying for companion travel (as in previous years), and did not include any first class/charter travel or tax indemnification/gross-up payments (per the tax return). There is a written reimbursement policy, and substantiation of expenses is required.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue shrank by 3%, to a total of $26.8M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $887K in revenue (up sharply from $286K in 2021, but nowhere near the $3.7M in pre-pandemic 2019).  The annual convention pulled in $720K (up from $214K in 2021, and getting closer to the 2019 level of $1.0M).  For materials sold, the sales revenue only covered 6% of the cost, resulting in a $2.1M loss on sales (better than the $2.4M loss in 2021). In 2021, the loss was 85%, in 2020, the loss was 82%, in 2019, the loss was 47%, in 2018 the loss was 51%, while in 2017, there was a 6.8% loss.

Total assets shrank by 5.3%, to $59.8M, of which $32.1M is cash and investments, equal to 1.12 years of expenses (compared to 1.53 years in 2021, 1.23 years in 2020, 0.65 years in 2019, 0.63 years in 2018, 0.52 years in 2017, 0.56 years in 2016, and 1.2 years in 2015), 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 $25.5M (down 1%).  Inventory has decreased by 13% (after decreasing by 14% in 2021, 16% in 2020, and 13% in each of 2019 and 2018), to $435K.

Net assets shrank by $3.3M (5.3%), mostly due to $2M less cash and $1.1M less investments. Liabilities are up somewhat, mostly due to $1.1M more in accounts payable.

Related organizations

Three organizations are identified as related, “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”,“Toastmasters International (Hong Kong) Ltd”, and “Shenzen Toastmasters Culture Exchange”, all companies for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI).

One contributor of over $5K is listed, with that person (name redacted, as permitted by IRS regulations) contributing $7,199.

Click here for the full 2022 tax return.

2021 tax return analysis
2020 tax return analysis
2019 tax return analysis
2018 tax return analysis
2017 tax return analysis
2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2021 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2021 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was down 2%, and expenses were down 7%, resulting in a “profit” (revenue minus expenses) of just over $6M (compared to nearly $5M in 2020).  Total salaries were up 2.9% (58% of all expenses, up slightly from 52% in 2020), even though the number of employees is slightly down from 168 to 163 (down 3%).

Expenses and vendors

  • Payroll (including all related expenses, like benefits and pensions) was by far the largest single expense, at $13.3M (up 2.9% from 2020).
  • District expenses were flat at $3.4M (down 0.5%).
  • Depreciation added up to $1.4M (unchanged).
  • Insurance was down sharply to $122K (from $1.2M).
  • Travel was down again by 70%, to $102K (from $343K).

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, $326K (up from $295K previous year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $945K (was $885K)
  • Europe, $243K (down from $302K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $94K ($219K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $20K ($31K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $239K ($167K)
  • South America: $13K ($7K)
  • South Asia: $400K ($200K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

15 more companies were paid at least $100K (each) in 2019.

Employee compensation

Staff designated as key must have compensation publicly reported (per U.S. non-profit tax law), listed below.

  • CEO Dan Rex, $409K base compensation (unchanged) plus a $66K bonus (16% of base), for $518K total compensation (13% increase)
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $300K (includes a 7% bonus, total comp up 7% from 2020)
  • Chief information officer Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian (who left in August 2021), $283K total comp (11% decrease, though likely a partial year)
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $182K (2% decrease)
  • HR director Gary Kinser, $176K (6% increase)
  • Marketing director John Lurquin, $171K (4% decrease)
  • Partnership and development director Angela Cunningham, $154K (1% increase)
  • Secretary/education director Kathryn Rynerson, $151K (new to the list)
  • Club quality and member support director Danielle Mitchell, $150K (new to the list)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation committee, a compensation survey or study, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  This year, the tax return indicates that the form 990 of other organizations was not used and that there was no written employment contract, while those boxes have always been checked in recent years. And, this year, for the first time, an independent compensation consultant was used.

Expenses did include paying for travel for companions (as in previous years), and unlike previous years, did not include any first class/charter travel or tax indemnification/gross-up payments (per the tax return). There is a written reimbursement policy, substantiation of expenses is required.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue shrank by 10%, to a total of $27.7M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $286K in revenue (up 18%).  The annual convention (online only) pulled in $214K (up from $6K in 2020).  For materials sold, the sales revenue only covered 15% of the cost, resulting in a massive $2.4M loss on sales. In 2020, the loss was 82%, in 2019, the loss was 47%, in 2018 the loss was 51%, while in 2017, there was a 6.8% loss.

Total assets grew by 6.4%, to $63.2M, of which $35.4M is cash and investments, equal to 1.53 years of expenses (compared to 1.23 years in 2020, 0.65 years in 2019, 0.63 years in 2018, 0.52 years in 2017, 0.56 years in 2016, and 1.2 years in 2015), 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 $25.6M (down 1%).  Inventory has decreased by 14% (after decreasing by 16% in 2020, and 13% in each of 2019 and 2018), to $435K.

Net assets grew by $3.8M (6.4%), mostly due to savings/cash investments growing by $6.9M and investments growing by $787K (other smaller shifts canceled some of this out, including apparently zeroing out the cash account for the end of the year, which was $2.9M in 2020). Liabilities are down somewhat, but the $2.2M unsecured note/loan from 2020 is gone. There’s new listings for other liabilities, with gift certificates at $145K, customer deposits at $324K, and lease liability at $86K.

Related organizations

Three organizations are identified as related, “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”,“Toastmasters International (Hong Kong) Ltd”, and “Shenzen Toastmasters Culture Exchange”, all companies for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI).

Three contributors of over $5K are listed, with the US Small Business Association apparently “contributing” $2.2M, David Blackwealth (of Pennington, NJ) contributing $6K, and Danny and Dawn Oberst (of Dallas, TX) contributing $10K.

Click here for the full 2021 tax return.

2020 tax return analysis
2019 tax return analysis
2018 tax return analysis
2017 tax return analysis
2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2020 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2020 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was down 25% (with the Covid pandemic starting), and expenses were down even more, at 36%, resulting in a “profit” (revenue minus expenses) of nearly $5M (compared to nearly $1M in 2019).  Total salaries were down 3.5% (52% of all expenses, up from 35% in 2019), even though the number of employees is down from 198 to 168 (down 15%).

Expenses and vendors

  • Payroll (including all related expenses, like benefits and pensions) was by far the largest single expense, at $13.0M (down 3.5% from 2019).
  • District expenses were down sharply to $3.4M (down 65%).
  • The magazine cost was also down sharply with the last printed and mailed magazine in April 2020, at $764K (down 82%).
  • Depreciation added up to $1.4M (unchanged).
  • Insurance was $1.2M (unchanged).
  • Software cost $869K (down 38% from $1.4M; this may or may not include Cornerstone, as they’re a vendor).
  • Travel was $343K (down 71%).

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. All regions show sharply lower costs, on average 39% lower.

  • North America, $295K (down from $902K previous year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $885K (was $1,988K)
  • Europe, $302K (down from $827K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $219K ($678K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $31K ($84K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $167K ($387K)
  • South America: $7K ($21K)
  • South Asia: $200K ($576K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

  • RR Donnelley & Sons, $2.8M for logistics (down from $5.4M last year, most TI store sales)
  • Marriott International, Atlanta, $957K (listed as “hospitality”)
  • HPM Inc., Englewood, CO, $872K (for “tenant construction”)
  • Cornerstone Ondemand, $725K (down from $922K, the Pathways web site)
  • Freeman Audio Visual, $277K (was $284K, convention A/V)

13 more companies were paid at least $100K (each) in 2019.

Employee compensation

Staff designated as key must have compensation publicly reported (per U.S. non-profit tax law), listed below.

  • CEO Dan Rex, $409K base compensation (3.3% increase) plus a $8K bonus (2% of base), for $460K total compensation (16.7% decrease)
  • Chief information officer Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $317K total comp (13% decrease)
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $280K (same as 2019)
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $186K (10% decrease)
  • Marketing director John Lurquin, $179K (18% increase)
  • ERP director Martin Walz, $170K (new to the list)
  • HR director Gary Kinser, $166K (4% decrease)
  • Partnership and development director Angela Cunningham, $153K (new to the list)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation board committee, the form 990 tax returns from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions, and tax indemnification/gross-up payments (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue shrank by 22%, to a total of $30.8M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $242K in revenue (down 93%).  The annual convention (online only) pulled in $6K (down from $1.0M in Denver in 2019).  For materials sold, the sales revenue only covered 18% of the cost, resulting in a massive $2.5M loss on sales. In 2019, the loss was 47%, in 2018 the loss was 51%, while in 2017, there was a 6.8% loss.

Total assets grew by 8.1%, to $59.4M, of which $30.6M is cash and investments, equal to 1.23 years of expenses (nearly double from 0.65 years in 2019, 0.63 years in 2018, 0.52 years in 2017, 0.56 years in 2016, and 1.2 years in 2015), 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 $25.9M (down 1.9%).  Inventory has decreased by 16% (after decreasing by 13% in each of 2019 and 2018), to $503K.

Net assets grew by $4.5M (8.1%), mostly due to savings/cash growing by $4.3M and investments growing by $804K (other smaller shifts canceled some of this out). Accounts payable shrank by $2.3M and deferred revenue shrank by $1.8M, but a $2.2M unsecured note/load was added to the balance sheet.

Related organizations

Three organizations are identified as related, “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”,“Toastmasters International (Hong Kong) Ltd”, and “Shenzen Toastmasters Culture Exchange”, all companies for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI).

One contributor of over $5K is listed, for $15K, though the name is withheld (as permitted by law).

Click here for the full 2020 tax return.

2019 tax return analysis
2018 tax return analysis
2017 tax return analysis
2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2019 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2019 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was down 9.2%, and expenses were down 1.8%.  Total salaries were up 0.2% (35% of all expenses, up slightly from 34% in 2018), even though the number of employees is down from 236 to 198 (down 16%).

Expenses and vendors

  • Payroll (including all related expenses, like benefits and pensions) was by far the largest single expense, at $13.4M (about the same as 2018).
  • District expenses were $9.7M (up 11%).
  • The magazine cost $2.7M (down 4%).
  • Depreciation added up to $1.4M (unchanged).
  • Insurance was $1.2M (unchanged).
  • Software cost $1.4M (up 17% from $1.2M; this may or may not include Cornerstone, as they’re a vendor).
  • Transportation (apparently different from “travel”) cost $976K (down 1.3% from $1.1M).
  • Travel was $1.2M (up 19% from $1.0M).

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, $902K (up from $832K previous year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1,986K (was $1,998K)
  • Europe, $827K (up from $595K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $678K (up considerably from $461K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $84K ($79K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $387K ($329K)
  • South America: $21K ($6K, reflecting new growth there)
  • South Asia: $576K (up considerably from $306K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

22 more companies were paid at least $100K (each) in 2019.

Employee compensation

Staff paid over $100K/year must be reported (per U.S. non-profit tax law), listed below.

  • CEO Dan Rex, $396K base compensation (7.7% decrease) plus a $120K bonus (30% of base), for $552K total compensation (3.8% decrease)
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $280K (1% increase in base salary)
  • Chief information officer Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $326K total comp (3% increase in base salary)
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $206K (base salary up 21%)
  • Application services IT director Nader Hariri, $186K (up 3%)
  • Cloud services manager Albert Hadiprodjo, $164K (new to the list)
  • HR director Gary Kinser, $173K (new to the list)
  • Marketing director John Lurquin, $152K (new to the list)
  • Marketing director William Nissim, $338K (up from $240K, includes $74K in other compensation, likely a termination package)
  • Member engagement officer Darci Maenpa, $296K (up 35%)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation board committee, the form 990 tax returns from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions, and tax indemnification/gross-up payments (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue grew by 5.0%, to a total of $39.7M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $3.7M in revenue (up 15%).  The annual convention in Denver pulled in $1.0M (down 17% from Chicago in 2018).  For materials sold, the sales revenue only covered half the cost, resulting in a 47% loss on sales. In 2018, the loss was 51%, while in 2017, there was an 6.8% loss.

Total assets grew by 3.8%, to $54.9M, of which $25.4M is cash and investments, equal to 0.65 years of expenses (up from 0.63 years in 2018, 0.52 years in 2017, 0.56 years in 2016, and 1.2 years in 2015), below 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 $26.4M (up 1.9%).  Inventory has decreased by another 13% (after decreasing by 13% in 2018), to $602K.

Net assets grew by $1.5M (3.7%), mostly due to prepaid expenses growing by $1M and investments growing by $882K (other smaller shifts canceled some of this out).

Related organizations

Three organizations are identified as related, “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”,“Toastmasters International (Hong Kong) Ltd”, and “Shenzen Toastmasters Culture Exchange”, all companies for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI).

Click here for the full 2019 tax return.

2018 tax return analysis
2017 tax return analysis
2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2018 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2018 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was up 10.0%, and expenses were down 4.0%.  Total salaries were down 12.9% (34% of all expenses, down from 37% in 2017), even though the number of employees is up from 181 to 236 (up 30%, partly a recovery from staff loss during the Denver move the previous year).

Expenses and vendors

  • Payroll (including all related expenses, like benefits and pensions) was by far the largest single expense, at $13.4M (but down by 12.9% from 2017).
  • District expenses were $8.7M (down 16%).
  • The magazine cost $2.8M (down 3%).
  • Depreciation added up to $1.4M (61% higher).
  • Insurance was $1.2M (down 14%).
  • Software cost $1.2M (up 49% from $833K; this may or may not include Cornerstone, as they’re a vendor).
  • Transportation (apparently different from “travel”) cost $1.1M (and was not listed in the 2017 return).
  • Travel was $1,017K (up 12% from $908K).
  • Credit card fees were $1,000K (unchanged).

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, $832K (down from $1,061K previous year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1,998K (was $1,936K)
  • Europe, $595K (down from $860K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $461K (down from $742K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $79K ($66K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $329K ($397K)
  • South America: $6K (was $8K; the decrease is surprising given the focus on growing clubs in Brazil)
  • South Asia: $306K (was $385K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

24 more companies were paid at least $100K (each) in 2018.

Employee compensation

Staff paid over $100K/year must be reported (per U.S. non-profit tax law), listed below. This year, some employees (not specifically identified) received relocation benefits (which were grossed up to cover taxes) or retention incentives to stay on until the move (all included in the total compensation reported below).

This year, for the first time, it appears most of the people listed below received a bonus or incentive payment (in 2017, only Dan Rex and Jennifer Quinn received such payments). Interestingly, many of these staffers are showing flat or even a small decrease in base compensation, probably a result of the lower cost of living in Denver, compared to the former WHQ location in Orange County.

  • CEO Dan Rex, $429K base compensation (4.5% decrease) plus a $66K bonus (15% of base), for $574K total compensation (7.9% decrease)
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $419K total comp (58% increase, mostly in “other compensation”, likely a relocation package; base comp is essentially unchanged)
  • Chief information officer Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $409K total comp (21% increase, also mostly in other comp (relocation), base comp is down 12%)
  • Chief operations officer Sally Newell, $358K total comp (down 4%, includes a $125,000 in “other” compensation, and the compensation schedule indicates at least one person received a severance payment, probably her since she left Toastmasters in August 2018)
  • Marketing & communications director William Nissim, $240K (up 30%, but base comp is only up 5%)
  • Chief member engagement officer Darci Maenpa, $220K (down 2%, but base comp is essentially unchanged)
  • IT manager – enterprise architect Sean Mattox, $209K (new to the list)
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $191K (up 22%, but base comp is up only 2%)
  • Application services IT director Nader Hariri, $181K (up 2.3%; base comp is down 3%, but he received an 8% bonus, the highest percentage other than Dan Rex)
  • Business enablement manager Gary Maziarz, $180K (new to the list)
  • Business data analyst Neyra Espinoza, $166K (new to the list)
  • Executive and board relations director Jennifer Barr (was Quinn), $153K (down 33%, but 2017 included $83K for other/relocation; base comp is essentially unchanged; she left Toastmasters in March 2019)
  • Senior product development manager Angela Cunningham, $135K (up 5%)
  • Application services manager Sofia Ageyeva, $139K (new to the list)
  • Communications manager Diana Passow, $138K (new to the list)
  • Publications manager Suzanne Frey, $139K (new to the list)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation board committee, the form 990 tax returns from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions, and tax indemnification/gross-up payments (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue shrank by 4.6%, to a total of $37.8M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $3.2M in revenue (down 34%, likely due to eliminating the October/November district conferences, an average of about $9 per member).  The annual convention pulled in $1.2M (down 2% from 2017).  For materials sold, the sales revenue only covered half the cost, resulting in a 51% loss on sales. In 2017, the loss was 6.8%, while in 2016, there was an 18.2% profit margin

Total assets grew by 2.1%, to $52.9M, of which $24.9M is cash and investments, equal to 0.63 years of expenses (up from 0.52 years in 2017, 0.56 years in 2016, and 1.2 years in 2015), below 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 $25.9M (down 8.5%).  Inventory has decreased by another 13% (after decreasing by 8% in 2016), to $691K.

Net assets grew by almost $4M (10.7%), mostly due to savings and temporary cash investments growing by $3.8M and accounts payable and accrued expenses shrinking by $3.6M (other smaller shifts canceled some of this out).

Donations to Toastmasters International totaled $104K, compared to $76K in 2017 and $40K in 2016 (likely a result of the new marketing of the Smedley Foundation). Donations over $5K must be reported, and two donors met the threshold. F. Dian Prasko of Colony, Kansas, donated $5K (she apparently passed on in November 2018), and the Homer N Allen Charitable Trust of Madison, Florida, donated $25K (details on the trust here).

Related organizations

Two organizations are identified as related, “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd” and “Toastmasters International (Hong Kong) Ltd”, both companies for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI).

Click here for the full 2018 tax return.

2017 tax return analysis
2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2017 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2017 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was up 16.5% (this was the first full year of the 25% dues increase, from $36 to $45), but expenses were up 11.7%.  Total salaries were up 18.9% (37% of all expenses, up from 35% in 2016), and the number of employees is down from 198 to 181 (down 9%).

Expenses and vendors

Payroll was by far the largest single expense, at $15.4M (up 19%).  Travel expenses are down, from $1,195K in 2016 to $908K in 2017.  $894K was spent on postage, $833K was spend on software, $476K on property taxes, $464K on “new member charter kits”, $334K on audio/visual, and $306K on training and development.

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, $1061K (up 16% from $917K last year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1.9M (unchanged from last year)
  • Europe, $860K (up from $681K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $742K (doubled from $361K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $66K ($68K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $397K ($309K)
  • South America: $8K ($13K)
  • South Asia: $385 ($149K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

23 more companies were paid at least $100K in 2017.

Employee compensation

Staff paid at least $100K must be reported, and they were as below. This year, some employees (not identified) received relocation benefits (which were grossed up to cover taxes) or retention incentives to stay on until the move (all included in the total compensation reported below).

  • CEO Dan Rex, $582K salary (45.1% increase) and $624K total compensation (41.3% increase)
  • Chief operations officer Sally Newell-Cohn, $345K total comp, up 8.5%
  • Chief information officer Sam Farajian, $339K, up 4.3%
  • Chief financial officer John Bond, $265K, up 7.3%
  • Executive and board relations director Jennifer Quinn, $230K, up 65%
  • Chief member engagement officer Darci Maenpa, $216K, up 7.5%
  • Marketing & Communications Director William Nissim, $185K, up 4.5%
  • Application services IT director Nader Hariri, $177K, up 16.4%
  • Controller Margaret Yamamoto, $156K, up 7.6%
  • Research and business development director Heather von Raesfeld Carter, $156K, up 5.4%
  • Education program director Carol Gregory, $156K, up 2.6%
  • Senior product development manager Angela Cunningham, $128K (new to the list this year)

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation committee, the form 990 tax return from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions, and tax indemnification/grow-up payments (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue was up by 14.5%, to a total of $39.6M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $4.9M in revenue (an average of about $13 per member).  The annual convention pulled in $1.2M (down from $1.3M in 2016, but the same as 2015).  Magazine advertising earned $20K (unchanged).  For materials sold, there was a negative profit margin of 6.8% (down from an 18.2% profit margin in 2016, perhaps from writing off traditional education program materials).

Total assets grew by 7.0%, to $51.8M, of which $21.4M is cash and investments, equal to 0.52 years of expenses (down from 0.56 years in 2016, which was down sharply from 1.2 years in 2015), below 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 $28.3M.  Inventory has decreased by 8%, to $793K.

Donations to Toastmasters International totaled $76K, compared to $40K the previous year (likely a result of the new marketing of the Smedley Foundation). This year, no one person gave $5K or more (which would have to be reported by name).

Related organizations

Two organizations are identified as related, “Fifteen to Seventy LLC”, a real estate holding company in Colorado (100% owned by TI, a vehicle for buying the new office), and “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”, a company for “legal and compliance administration” (also controlled by TI)

Click here for the full 2017 tax return.

2016 tax return analysis
2015 tax return analysis
2014 tax return analysis
2013 tax return analysis
2012 tax return analysis
2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2016 Toastmasters tax return 990

The 2016 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was down 1.7% (the second half of 2016, dues increased from $36 to $45), but expenses were up 7.9%.  Total salaries were up 12% (35% of all expenses), and the number of employees is up from 175 to 198 (up 13%).

Expenses and vendors

Payroll was by far the largest single expense, at $12.9M (up 12%).  Travel expenses are unchanged, from $1,180K in 2015 to $1,195K in 2016.  $769K was spent on postage, $778K was spend on software, $416K on audio/visual, and $460K on “new member charter kits”.

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, $917K (up slightly from $877K last year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1.9M (up from $1.7M)
  • Europe, $681K (up from $476K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $361K ($409K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $68K ($116K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $309K ($271K)
  • South America: $13K ($6K)
  • South Asia: $149 ($177K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

  • Asendia USA, $1.9M for shipping (down from $2.3M last year)
  • Walsworth Print Group, $1.7M for printing and mailing (down from $2.0M last year)
  • Freeman Audio, $594K for convention audio/visual services (down from $634K last year)
  • Confluent Development in Denver, $447K for property development (the new WHQ site, not listed lastyear)
  • Andovar PTD LTD in Singapore, $430K for language translation (not listed last year)

26 more companies were paid at least $100K in 2016.

Employee compensation

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

  • CEO Dan Rex, $401K salary (16.3% decrease) and $442K total compensation (14.5% decrease)
  • IT Director Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $325K total comp, up 9.8%
  • COO Sally Newell-Cohn, $318K, up 5.3%
  • Controller John Bond, $247K, up 11.8%
  • Member Support Director Darci Maenpa, $211K, up 17.9%
  • Marketing Communications Director William Nissim, $177K, up 10.6%
  • Employee Margaret Yamamoto, $145K, up 19.8%
  • Employee Carol Gregory, $152K, up 16.0%
  • Employee Heather Von Raesfeld, $148K (not listed in 2015)
  • Employee Nader Hariri, $152K (not listed in 2015)
  • Employee Jennifer Quinn, $139K, up 14.9%

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation committee, the form 990 tax return from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue was up by 6.8%, roughly congruent with membership growth, to a total of $34.6M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $4.6M in revenue (an average of about $13 per member).  The annual convention pulled in $1.3M (up from $1.2M in 2015).  Magazine advertising earned $20K (unchanged).  For materials sold, the profit margin was 18.2% (was 18.1% in 2015).

Total assets shrank slightly again, by 1.2%, to $48.4M, of which $20.8M is cash and investments, equal to 0.56 years of expenses (down sharply from 1.2 in 2015), below 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 $25.6M (with the Denver building purchase).  Inventory has decreased by 1.3%, to $863K.

Toastmasters International must report on individual donors who gave $5K or more, and in 2016, Curtis Hellenbrand of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, gave $11,850 (someone with that name passed away in 2012).  Total donations were $40K.

Related organizations

Two organizations are identified as related, “Fifteen to Seventy LLC”, a real estate holding company in Colorado (100% owned by TI, a vehicle for buying the new office), and “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”, a publishing company (also controlled by TI)

Click here for the full 2016 tax return.

2015 tax return analysis

2014 tax return analysis

2013 tax return analysis

2012 tax return analysis

2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2015 Toastmasters tax return 990

dollar_noteThe 2015 990 tax return for Toastmasters International has been released. Total revenue was up 2.2%, but expenses were up 3.7%.  Total salaries were up 14.2%, but the number of employees is down from 179 to 175 (-2%).

Expenses and vendors

Payroll was by far the largest single expense, at $10.1M (up 12%).  Travel expenses are down, from $1,377K in 2014 to $1,180K in 2015.  $630K was spend on software, $467K on “new member charter kits”, $83K on “employee relations”, $76K on translations, and $10K was spent on “speakers”.

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, $877K (down from $1.1M last year)
  • East Asia/Pacific, $1.7M (down from $2.1M)
  • Europe, $476K (down from $534K)
  • Middle East/North Africa: $409K ($266K)
  • Central America/Caribbean: $116K ($66K)
  • Sub-Saharan Africa: $271K ($250K)
  • South America: $6K ($4K)
  • South Asia: $177 ($316K)

The five largest vendors for Toastmasters were:

16 more companies were paid at least $100K in 2015.

Employee compensation

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

  • CEO Dan Rex, $479K total compensation, 21.0% increase
  • COO Sally Newell-Cohn, $270K, 12.5% increase
  • IT Director Hamidreza (Sam) Farajian, $265K, 23.3% increase
  • Controller John Bond, $188K, 22.1% increase
  • Member Support Director Darci Maenpa, $152K, 10.1% increase
  • Marketing Communications Director William Nissim, $152K (not listed in 2014, new hire?)
  • Employee Carol Gregory, $112K (not listed in 2014)
  • Employee Margaret Yamamoto, $111K (not listed in 2014)
  • PR Manager Suzanne Frey, $107K, 1.9% increase
  • Employee Jennifer Quinn, $104K (not listed in 2014)
  • Club Services Manager Kristen Rolapp, $111K, 1.8% increase

The CEO’s compensation was established using a compensation committee, the form 990 tax return from other organizations, a written employment contract, a compensation study or survey, and approval by the board or compensation committee (per the tax return, Schedule J).  (The tax form includes one other method for determining compensation which is not used by TI, an independent compensation consultant.)

Expenses did include paying for first-class or charter travel, travel for companions, and tax indemnification and gross-up payments (per the tax return), following a written reimbursement policy, and requiring substantiation of expenses.

Revenue and assets

Total program revenue was up by 1.8%, roughly congruent with membership growth, to a total of $32.4M.  The Toastmasters district conferences globally took in $4.7M in revenue (an average of about $13 per member).  The annual convention pulled in $1.2M (down from $1.4M in 2014).  Magazine advertising earned $20K (down from $31K in 2014).  For materials sold, the average profit margin was 12.6% (down from 14.1% in 2014).

Total assets shrank slightly, by 3.4%, to $49.0M, of which $41.6M is cash and investments, equal to 1.2 years of expenses (down slightly from 1.3 in 2014), 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 $5.5M.  Inventory has increased by 18.8%, to $874K.

Toastmasters International had to report on individual donors for the second year, it’s only required if someone gave $5K or more, and in 2015, Virginia Figg of New York City gave $10K.  Total donations were $22K, after hitting $67K in 2014 (including a single $50K gift), and $15K the year before.

Related organizations

Two organizations are identified as related, “Fifteen to Seventy LLC”, a real estate holding company in Colorado (100% owned by TI, a vehicle for buying the new office), and “Toastmasters International Singapore Ltd”, a publishing company (also controlled by TI).  (This schedule was not in previous tax returns.)

Click here for the full 2015 tax return.

2014 tax return analysis

2013 tax return analysis

2012 tax return analysis

2011 tax return analysis

Analysis of 2014 Toastmasters tax return 990

dollar_noteThe 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. Continue reading “Analysis of 2014 Toastmasters tax return 990”

Analysis of Toastmasters International form 990 tax return for 2013

dollar_noteI’ve received and reviewed the 2013 tax return for Toastmasters International. It appears to identify the Revitalized Education Program (at least in 2013) as NogginLabs of Chicago, “your guide to building the best e-learning in the world”, a “certified women-owned small business”. Toastmasters is included on their web site’s client list, and they appear to have a few employees in Toastmasters clubs, based on LinkedIn profiles. Continue reading “Analysis of Toastmasters International form 990 tax return for 2013”