Executive Compensation at the March of Dimes (2021)

2021 was a better year than 2020 for the March of Dimes with the benchmark being the organization went into a positive net asset position (from a negative $20 million at the end of 2020).  Just eight 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 annually, had to fund a pension/post retirement fund for employees, 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.

But revenue continued to decline (from $169 million in 2016 to $164 million in 2017 to $141 million in 2018 to $130 million in 2019 to $101 million in 2020).  Staff cuts were made (the organization had 1,513 employees in 2016 compared 683 in 2021), first class travel finally appeared to be eliminated (the IRS Form 990 in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 shows staff did not fly first class, as in previous years), and the organization cut expenses and did not spend more than they raised in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2021, the March of Dimes spent what they raised but were able to end the year with $1 million in net assets because of the fair value of assets held in trust were increased by $18 million.

In 2021, revenue was $103 million (compared to $101 million in 2020) nearly all of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants), despite the use of multiple professional fundraisers and heavy advertising in the Wall Street Journal.

Expenses totaled $103 million with the largest expense reported to be compensation.  683 employees received $51 million, which equates to an average compensation of $75,000.  88 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 15 most highly compensated employees reported to be:

• $621,494:  Stacey D Stewart, President and CEO
• $360,708:  Rahul Guptal, SVP, Chief Medical Officer
• $346,367:  Zsekaba T Henderson, SVP MCH IMP DEP MD OF
• $305,042:  Frederick A Brogdon, SVP, COO, and Board Officer
• $344,661:  Andrew S Coccari, Jr, SVP, and Chief Development Officer
• $322,856:  Adrian P Mollo, SVP, GC/Asst Secretary
• $304,687:  David C Damond, SVP, CFO/Asst Treasurer
• $290,015:  Kelly Ernst, SVP, Market Impact
• $268,273:  Nicholas M DiFranza, SVP and Chief Tech Officer
• $262,256:  Deirdre Maloney, VP, Human Resources
• $260,359:  Cynthia H Rahman, SVP, Chief MO
• $240,059:  Darlene R Slaughter, VP and Chief PO
• $229,155:  Alison A Spera, VP, Market Impact
• $207,451:  Anne G Gallivan, VP Event Fundraising
• $199,665:  Rochelle S Siegel, Sr Executive Director, Market Impact

The 15 most highly compensated employees received $4.5 million or an average compensation of $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 – is comprised of 12 females and 11 males (note: 23 are listed on the Form 990 due to timing differences; the Form 990 does not report gender, determination was made based on name and google searches).

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

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

• $4,136,616:  True North, of NY, NY for advertising
• $2,803,329:  Direct Donor TV, of Bowie, Maryland for development and air time
• $1,413,234:  Edge Direct, of Tulsa, Oklahoma for advertising
• $  491,222:  M & R Strategic Services, of Washington, DC for marketing
• $  477,847:  Fleishman-Hillard, of St. Louis, MO for social media consulting

As illustrated above, the March of Dimes spent heavily on advertising and promotion.

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

• Infocision Management Corp, of Akron, OH, a telemarketing firm raised $669,000 for March of Dimes; Infocision retained $310,983, netting the March of Dimes $358,017;
• M & R Strategic Services, of Washington, DC raised $553,470. M & R Strategic Services retained $261,702, netting the March of Dimes $291,768.
• Edge Direct, LLC, of Baltimore, MD was paid $1,149,996 for fundraising consulting.

Two firms above – Infocision and M & R raised $1.2 million, retained approximately $570,000 (48%) netting the March of Dimes approximately $650,0000 (52% of revenue raised).

To read the IRS Form 990 (2021), click here.