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[Doug Giese]

When is the current Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax to be posted? The one on the web is from 2013.

[Ric Gillespie]

The current 990 is for fiscal year 2014/2015.  We'll have it up on the website shortly.

[Doug Giese]

My request to post the 2013-2014 Form 990 was posted a month ago. When will it be posted?

[Ric Gillespie]

My request to post the 2013-2014 Form 990 was posted a month ago. When will it be posted?

It's up now.

[Ric Gillespie]

I should point out that there's an error in the 2014-2015 Form 990.  The first page (Part 1, Revenue, Item 10, Investment Income) shows -$56,577.  It's an error by the accounting firm that prepared the 990 and we didn't catch it before it was filed.  We'll need to file an amended return once we figure out where the heck they came up with that.  TIGHAR has no investments and certainly did not have an investment loss or sell anything.  We have since changed accounting firms.

Also, the current 990 shows a negative net assets balance (item 22) of $335,902 due to liabilities of $418,782 against total assets of $82,830. Those figures were correct for fiscal 2014-2015.  Most of the liabilities figure was due to a loan made by a board member to cover the funding shortfall for the 2012 Niku VII expedition.  The individual has now converted the loan to a donation and taken the tax deduction - so we're now in the black.

Recovering from the problem-plagued 2012 expedition, the ridiculous but expensive lawsuit and subsequent appeal, and the under-funded 2015 expedition has been challenging, but with the support and encouragement of the TIGHAR membership we have prevailed and are once again moving forward with a healthy and vibrant organization, stronger for the hard lessons learned.

[Doug Giese]

How could the Board of Directors miss something so out of whack? Are they doing a review of the documents they approve? I presume you'll post the explanation for the $56,577 net loss (it's in category 7b(ii) Other, not Investment Income) once your new CPA figures it out.

[Ric Gillespie]

It's an accounting error.  All of us missed it.  I said we'd fix it as soon as we figure out what happened.  What's the big deal?
 

[Doug Giese]

Because when I donate money for a specific purpose, I expect the money to be spent and monitored prudently. A mistake like this raises many questions.

[Ric Gillespie]

Because when I donate money for a specific purpose, I expect the money to be spent and monitored prudently. A mistake like this raises many questions.

Well, if you're looking for a mistake-free organization you've come to the wrong place.  We clearly need to double-check the accountants but I can assure you that the money is spent and monitored carefully because there's never enough of it.

[Doug Giese]

I guess I have come to the wrong place. The 990 is very interesting and I hope the board examines it in the detail it needs. They are not performing their fiduciary duties. You paid yourself $177K in salary and $42K in Occupancy (high for a two person office) for a total of $219K. That's almost 3 times what was collected in membership fees, and almost 1/3 of total revenue. That's exceedingly high for a 501c(3) the size of Tighar. My membership expires tomorrow and I certainly won't be renewing.

[Ric Gillespie]

You paid yourself $177K in salary

I didn't pay myself anything. My remuneration is approved by the board. That figure represents remuneration for two full time professionals - me and my wife.  We file a joint personal tax return so we have TIGHAR pay all of the remuneration to me. Saves money and perfectly legal.
The $42K is for much more than a two-person office and none of it comes to me.

[Ric Gillespie]

Doug is unable to respond.  He has chosen not to renew his TIGHAR membership so he is no longer able to post to the Forum.