Society for Technical Communication Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
314424296
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-T 2022, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Fairfax, VA, USA
Phone
7035524114
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,146,949
Expenses
$1,213,534
Assets
$117,877
Liabilities
$863,691

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LIZ HERMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • TIMOTHY ESPOSITO (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • DANIELLE VILLEGAS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TIMOTHY SHAW (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (FROM 5/23))
  • ELIZABETH POHLAND (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 3/23))

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH POHLAND (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 3/23)): $58,999 total reported compensation
  • TIMOTHY SHAW (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (FROM 5/23)): $38,584 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The society for technical communication advances technical communication as the discipline of transforming complex information into usable content for products, processes, and services. Stc serves its members by identifying and promoting best practices in the field and by demonstrating the economic value delivered by technical communicators. By providing lifelong learning opportunities, we help our members develop their skills and competencies so that they may advance in a variety of career paths.

What it reported doing in 2023

Education: support to practitioners, teachers, and students of technical communication through programs, scholarships, annual conferences, and seminars. The society also provides information about events and courses related to technical communication.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 57%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.8%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 7.33; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.7% of revenue deployed · 57% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $692K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $59K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.