Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications Forum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943314582
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
Plano, TX, USA
Phone
9724237360
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,520,776
Expenses
$2,589,711
Assets
$1,986,762
Liabilities
$1,126,940

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRASER PAJAK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRASER PAJAK (CEO): $377,716 total reported compensation
  • DON IRVINE (CHIEF OF STAFF): $156,600 total reported compensation
  • KEN KOFFMAN (CTO): $24,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Development of standards in the telecommunications field

What it reported doing in 2016

To develop and maintain a set of worldwide telecommunication quality system standards available for adoption by telecommunication service providers and suppliers in their contractual relations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.2%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 45.9%; rating input score 46
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.57; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 51.2% of revenue deployed · 45.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 20 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $378K · 22 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2011 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.