Executive Compensation at the March of Dimes (2019)

2019 was not a great year for the March of Dimes and yet, they continue to endure.  Just six years ago, the March of Dimes had $75 million in net fund assets and was raising nearly $200 million annually but they were spending more than they raised.  Since then, revenue has declined and the organization went into a negative net fund position because they were spending $8-$27 million more than they raised until 2016, had to fund a pension/post retirement fund for employees which for some reason was not funded (and is still not fully funded by $66 million), and had losses on investments. Things were not looking good by 2016 so the organization brought in a new president in 2017 following the retirement of the longtime president.

Since 2017, revenue has continued to decline with the March of Dimes reporting total revenue of $130 million in 2019, nearly all of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants), $11 million or 8% lower than in 2018, despite the use of multiple professional fundraisers and heavy advertising in the Wall Street Journal.

Expenses totaled $126 million with the largest expense being compensation for the 856 employees who received $65 million, which equates to an average compensation of $76,000. 100 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 15 most highly compensated employees reported to be:

• $562,933:  Stacey D Stewart, President and CEO
• $419,353:  Kelle H Moley, SVP, Chief Scientific Officer
• $405,190:  Rahul Guptal, SVP, Chief Medical Officer
• $336,238:  David C Damond, SVP, CFO/Asst Treasurer
• $310,755:  David J Hampton, II, SVP and Chief Development Officer
• $307,926:  Adrian P Mollo, SVP, GC/Asst Secretary (beginning 3/2019)
• $297,894:  Lisa F Waddell, SVP, MCH IMP and Deputy Medical Officer
• $285,426:  Nicholas M DiFranza, SVP and Chief Tech Officer
• $265,806:  Deirdre Maloney, VP, Human Resources
• $263,885:  Cynthia H Rahman, SVP, Chief MO (beginning 1/2019)
• $253,780:  Darlene R Slaughter, VP and Chief PO (beginning 2/2019)
• $245,457:  Kelly Ernst, SVP, Market Impact
• $237,693:  Florenda H Newton, VP, Corporate Engagement
• $214,873:  Alison A Spera, VP, Market Impact

The 15 most highly compensated employees received $4.4 million or an average compensation of nearly $300,000.  10 of the 15 (67%) most highly compensated employees are female while 5 (33%) are male. The Board – made up of 19 independent trustees – lists 10 trustees on the Form 990 but 5 left in 2019.

The March of Dimes provided gross up payments or tax indemnification.

30 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation. The 5 most highly compensated independent contractors were reported to be:

• $2,105,451:  Direct Donor TV, of Bowie, Maryland for development and air time
• $1,844,321:  True North, of NY, NY for advertising
• $1,172,168:  Stanton Blackwell, of Arlington, VA for management consulting
• $1,108,260:  Home Front Communication, of Washington, DC for communications
• $  875,991:  Purpose Campaigns, LLC, of NY, NY for video/photo consulting

It is also important to point out the March of Dimes relies heavily on outside fundraisers and consultants and they paid handsomely for these dollars:

• Infocision Management Corp, of Akron, OH, a telemarketing firm raised $623,650 for March of Dimes; Infocision retained $360,131 netting the March of Dimes $263,519.
• Thompson Habib and Denison, of Lexington, WA was paid $591,922 for fundraising consulting.
• Blue State Digital, Inc, of NY, NY raised $679,090 for March of Dimes. Blue State Digital retained $208,174 netting the March of Dimes $470,916.
• M & R Strategic Services, of Washington, DC raised $627,852. M & R Strategic Services retained $251,029 netting the March of Dimes $376,823.
• Edge Direct, LLC, of Baltimore, MD was paid $625,002 for fundraising consulting.

Three firms above – Infocision, Blue State Digital, and M & R raised $1.9 million, retained approximately $700,000 (38%) netting the March of Dimes approximately $1.2 million (62% of revenue raised).

To read the IRS Form 990 (2019), click here.