How Revenue is Spent at Turning Point USA (2021)

Turning Point USA is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) 3 that advocates conservative principles on high school, college, and university campuses and in convention centers that focus on attracting high schoolers, college students, and young adults ages 15-25 who they often refer to as activists.

Established in 2012 by Charles Kirk, the President who received nearly $408,000 in 2021 and $430,000 in compensation in 2020, and flew first class or charter, according to the Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021) submitted to the IRS.

Turning Point USA is overseen by 5 voting members (directors) of the governing body, 4 of whom are independent. All directors are male.

Total revenue in 2021 was reported to be $56 million (compared to $40 million in 2020 and $29 million in 2019), of which $48 million came from contributions, gifts, and grants. $1 million came from a related organization while $6 million came from fundraising events.

Expenses were reported to be $47 million but $19 million of the expenses (34% of revenue) included a “grant” and assistance to an affiliated organization:  Turning Point USA Endowment (which operates out of the same office as Turning Point), which if excluded means expenses totaled $28 million (50% of revenue).  The $8 million in unspent revenue (or $16 out of every $100 in revenue) was allocated to the general fund which had $15 million in net assets at year-end.

The $28 million in expenses can be categorized as follows:

• $10 million (18% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 6 million (11% of revenue):  Travel and Conventions
• $ 4 million (7% of revenue):  Printing, Publications, Videos, Digital
• $ 4 million (7% of revenue):  Fees for Services (i.e. primarily lobbying and fundraising)
• $ 2 million (3.5% of revenue):  Office-Related Expenses
• $ 2 million (3.5% of revenue);  Advertising and Promotion

Based on the above information, every $100 in revenue was spent as follows:

$100:  Revenue

-$ 18:  Compensation

-$ 11:  Travel and Conventions

-$  7:  Printing, Publications, Videos, Digital

-$  3.50:  Office-Related Expenses

-$  7:  Fees for Services

-$  3.5:  Advertising and Promotion

-$ 50: Total Expenses

 $ 50:  Remaining Revenue

-$ 34:  Grant to Turning Point USA Endowment

$  16:  Remaining Revenue:  To General Fund

The above information reveals that Turning Point USA is primarily engaged in convention center events with speakers brought in to address the “activist” 15-25 year olds, with most of the expenses listed above tied to these events either directly or indirectly.

457 employees (up from 425 in 2020 and 272 in 2019) received $10 million in compensation which equates to an average compensation of $22,000 – very low. 5 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation:

• $407,982:  Charles Kirk, President
• $286,435:  Joshua Thifault, Adv Strategic Director
• $198,763:  Tyler Bower, Asst Secretary, COO
• $183,098:  Benjamin Johnson
• $155,769:  Justin Olson, Asst Treasurer, CFO

The 5 most highly compensated employees are male, as are the 5 directors on the board, which gives the appearance of being a boys club.

Turning Point paid for first class and/or charter travel. See the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information for details on this expense.

21 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five (5) most highly compensated listed as follows:

• $1,500,000:  Mentzer Media Services, of Bel Air, MD for television ads
• $  714,820:  Mosaic Event Productions DBA PHX EV, of Phoenix,, AZ for video production
• $  386,693:  Lionrock Ventures, of LA, CA, for fundraising and event planning
• $  385,777:  MWPolitical, Inc, of Atlanta, GA for text message advertising
• $  350,000:  Strategic Partners and Media, of Annapolis, MD for tv and on-line ads

The bottom line is that Turning Point USA is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that primarily engages in conducting conventions targeting 15-25 year olds to hear speakers that support a conservative agenda while paying the President of the organization more than $400,000 annually, and also paying for first class travel/charter travel.

If you donated $100, then $34 of your donation went to Turning Point USA Endowment while $50 out of the $100 went to pay organization expenses; $16 of the $100 was added to the general fund (think savings account). In other words, half of donations are being used to build the endowment at both Turning Point USA Foundation and Turning Point, USA while the other half is spent on compensating staff to raise money and put on conventions to indoctrinate young people of what 10 men think others should believe.  But, that’s not enough.  Turning Point USA also has a link front and center on their website called “Professor Watchlist” that calls for students to report professors who “advance leftist propaganda” and “discriminate against conservative students.”  By encouraging students to act as judge and censor, Turning Point USA is encouraging students to squelch other opinions and free speech.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021), click here.