NYT Neediest Cases Site Now Links to IRS 990s

(What the site said at the start of last week.)

My request a few days ago to the New York Times to provide transparency on its Neediest Cases Fund site has produced a step forward and I'm pleased, even though it's not the fullest voluntary transparency possible.

I wanted the Times to provide at least three years' of IRS 990 filings and annual financial reports on the fund's homepage and here's what the paper's spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said about their transparency:

Thank you for your email. Our Forms 990 are available online on the website www.guidestar.org., a website which gathers and displays Forms 990 for most not-for-profit organizations. Registration on Guidestar is free and so anyone can see our Forms 990 online if they wish. As you note, we now provide a link directly to that site. We are satisfied with this level of transparency.

(At the end of the week, a link was added.)

Sure wish I knew what the reasons are for not simply posting the tax filings, instead of making folks register at GuideStar to view them, and requiring a written request for copies of the annuals financial reports.

So, polite applause for the link to GuideStar but no standing ovation since the filings and reports are still omitted from the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund's site.

NYT's Neediest Cases Site Omits IRS 990s & Fiscal Reports

Over the course of the past five or six years, I've noticed the growing number of nonprofits that voluntarily post at least three years' worth of IRS 990 filings and annual reports on their sites even though there is no Treasury Department regulation requiring such transparency.

As a longtime watchdog over Gay Inc and AIDS Inc organizations, I give much credit to any and all 501(c)3 tax-exempt groups that share their 990s and don't place any burden on donors or members of the public to make requests to a given nonprofit for their tax filings.

It's time to call upon the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund to join the extensive list of charities providing voluntary transparency and for the paper's nonprofit to immediately post several years of IRS 990s and annual financial reports on their site.

This is the limited info the site provides about fiscal information and accountability:

The Fund is a New York not-for-profit organization that has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. [...] A copy of The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund’s latest annual financial report may be obtained, upon request, from the Fund or from the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, Attn: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, New York 10271.

They don't even link to their IRS 990 filings at GuideStar and there is no email address given for whom to contact at the fund for annual report or the 990s. How quaint of the New York Times to let folks know they can snail mail a paper letter to the Empire State's attorney general.

The fund's principal officer is Michael Golden, pictured, vice chairman of the New York Times Company and a cousin to the publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr, and today I'm requesting that he bring the fund into the tech age and make a minimum of three years' 990s and annual reports a click away on the charity's web site.

HRC's Two IRS 990 Files: $30.3M Revenue, Former-Executive Director Made $221,917

I recently examined the latest IRS 990 tax return for National Public Radio and found quite a few hefty salaries and contributions to benefits' plans, and this got me thinking about the most current IRS 990 for the Human Rights Campaign Inc and the affiliated Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Here are some basic numbers from the FY 2005 IRS 990 reports for the two HRC nonprofits, based in Washington.

For HRC Inc, it reported $23.7 million in revenue, much of which must comes from their glamorous dinners, selling tschotkes on their web site and at their "action centers" in P-town and San Francisco.

What the gay community got in return for endowing HRC Inc with $23.7 in 2005 is open to question.

The IRS 990 for the HRC Foundation reveals revenue in 2005 of $6.6 million, with assets at the end of the year of $24.5 million. That's a nice chunk of change to have in the bank, wouldn't you agree?

Both HRC Inc and the Foundation show the group paid then-executive director Cheryl Jacques a salary of $221,917 for her services, and contributed $28,849 to her benefits package.

To my eyes, these sums are damn impressive. Too bad the same can't be said for about HRC supposed accomplishment with the gay community's money.

Of course, I wish the HRC leaders made their IRS 990 reports available on their own site, as does NPR.

But the last thing HRC wants is for the community to read their tax report, since the group is not committed to fiscal transparency.

Anyone know how much Joe Solmonese is making? His salary won't show up on an HRC IRS 990 for another year, but I think the community should know what he's earning right now.

But we all know that is asking too much of an organization that can't even throw an occasional bone to piss-poor bloggers who tirelessly work to find straight GOP state reps in places like Wyoming, who stand up for gay equality, and the day after they make great speeches for us, hearing from bloggers, who also run up long-distance phone bills to generate AP wire stories singing the praises of the GOP friends in the Equality State.

Almost two weeks ago Dan Zwonitzer and Pat Childers took great risk speaking and voting in favor of gay equality. Sure would be nice for the well-endowed HRC to send a thank you note to them and toss some bucks to bloggers.

NPR's $300,000-Plus Hosts, According to IRS Return

The last time I looked at the salaries of NPR hosts and executives, as listed on the radio news outlet's IRS 990 forms, was back in November 2004.

Sure, the compensation packages and salaries were very generous, and I'm not the least bit surprised the NPR folks have increased their pay.

Although seeing rather enormous salaries and packages in the nonprofit news radio world gives me reason to consider how high the compensation must be at for-profit private radio news stations.

Here are the figures from the latest IRS 990 form for National Public Radio, FY 2005, just for the top five on-air hosts:

Renee Montagne
Compensation: $308,374
Contributions to benefit plan: $30,640

Steve Inskeep
Compensation: $301,856
Contributions to benefit plan: $35,572

Robert Siegel
Compensation: $288,795
Contribution to benefit plan: $24,480

Scott Simon
Compensation: $266,821
Contribution to benefit plan: $33,572

Alexander Chadwick
Compensation: $235,173
Contribution to benefit plan: $29,564

Comparable information for the executives of NPR is also presented in the IRS return and is similarly high, which you can read by clicking here.