Petrelis Files

AllOut's Money Trail: IRS 990s, Salaries, Russia & T-Shirts

(If you don't like the HRC "Love Conquers Hate" t-shirt money-making effort for gay Russians, you can purchase AllOut's "Principle 6" gear seen here modeled by Elina Yuvakaeva, left in hat, and Anastasia Smirnova. Courtesy photo.)

The professional advocacy organization AllOut recently issued a call to action on behalf of LGBT Russians prior to the opening of the Olympics, and their release from spokesman Guillaume Bonnet stated the following about one aspect of the demonstrations:

Dress code: RED Let's all wear red! We encourage you to wear Principle 6 branded gear:  After covering costs, proceeds from the gear will go to support Russian groups. [...] Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions.

For a group that spends so much on web and tech expenses, according to the latest IRS 990 filing, AllOut's web site is bare bones and the release isn't posted there, but LA Frontiers has it up and Guillaume posted it to the QueeRussia group.. He was available for questions, so I sent these to him yesterday:

I would like as many details as possible about the fundraising effort with Principle 6 gear. What are the costs to create the gear, so far? Is American Apparel opening the books about these costs, and if so, where online is that info? Regarding any proceeds, how will you make that info transparent? 

Can you share the agreement between AllOut and American Apparel for this endeavor? Also, what about making the agreement between AllOut & American Apparel and the Russian groups that will receive money from the sale of the gear? 

I also think it's important to learn how you will either be challenging or complying with the foreign agents law and the hurdles Putin has placed on Russian groups accepting grants from non-Russian NGOs and such. Finally, let me know if you can share the list of Russian groups that will get grants from the sale of the products. Thanks.

My hope is that he will reply over the weekend with substantive answers, but as we wait let's go over the IRS 990 filings for the two arms of AllOut, and allow me to laud the group for its commitment to voluntary transparency by posting its most current tax filings on their website.

First up is their domestic arm Purpose Action Inc and its IRS 990 for 2012, which shows revenue of $1,780,000 and expenses totaling $364,500, with net assets at $1,400,000. They spent $173,000 fighting for gay marriage in four states, and $161,000 on AllOut's global initiatives and they claim to have engaged one millions queer persons.

AllOut's international arm is the Purpose Foundation and their IRS 990 report for 2012 shows revenue of $1,089,500, a deficit of $168,300 and net assets of $690,100.

The salaries were as follows: for president Jeremey Heimans at $115,800, executive director Andre Banks at $124,500 and chief operating officer $117,200. The sub-total for their compensation comes to $357,500, but when you add in $20,200 for employee benefits and $55,800 for payroll taxes, the total amount paid out for these three employees is $540,400.

Then for functional expenses on page 10 there is the website and technology cost of $208,400, $117,500 for campaign fees, and $49,100 for travel expenses.

Two NYC based nonprofits, the Underground Development Foundation received $13,100 and the Urban Justice Center got $60,000 from AllOut.

There are many more financial details and explanations in the IRS 990s for the two arms of AllOut and I encourage you to read them, and to share your thoughts and questions about the fiscal stewardship of the organization and leadership in charge.