Truth Initiative Foundation

“A total of fifteen persons served on the board of directors during the fiscal year. Those fifteen are shown in part vii of form 990. As of june 30, 2015 there were a total of eleven voting board members serving the organization as disclosed in part vi, lines 1a & 1b, and part i, lines 3 & 4.”

“As of august 27, 2015, the foundation legally changed its name to the truth initiative foundation, d/b/a truth initiative, to reflect our objective to align all organization programs more closely with the truth campaign and consistent with our mission to achieve a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco. In october 2015, the foundation also moved to new headquarters at 900 g street, nw, washington d.c.”

“The national governors association, national association of attorneys general, and national council of state legislatures each have the authority to appoint two class a directors.”

“Pursuant to board resolution, the board observes the following procedures in the following order: first, the audit committee reviews and approves the draft form 990; second, the approved form 990 is electronically routed to all board members; third, the form is filed with the irs and posted to the foundation's web site.”

“Truth initiative regularly and consistently monitors and enforces compliance with its conflict of interest policy by: requiring annual review of policy and written disclosures by all directors, senior staff and research investigators which are collected and reviewed by the general counsel; requiring updated filings as necessary by directors and covered staff; requiring contemporaneous disclosures of all conflicts and potential conflicts not disclosed in the annual filings, by all directors and staff; requiring all research investigators who participate in nih-funded research to comply with nih's financial conflict of interest (fcoi) regulation and to annually complete the nih tutorial on conflicts of interest; and placing administrative responsibility for training and compliance with the general counsel.”

“The process for determining the compensation of the ceo and top management includes review and approval by independent persons, comparative data and contemporaneous substantiation. The board regularly retains an independent consulting firm to evaluate the compensation of the ceo and top management against the competitive market, including comparable positions among similarly situated organizations as well as broader, relevant market surveys. Based on that analysis and performance assessments and the review and recommendation of the board's executive committee, the full board sets the ceo's compensation, approves or amends the ceo's recommendation for the compensation of the cfio, and reviews or amends the ceo's recommendation for the compensation of the, coo, gc, chief marketing officer, chief evaluation and research officer, and executive director of the schroeder institute. The ceo makes compensation decisions for other key employees, upon recommendation of the coo.”

“Truth initiative's financial statements are available on its corporate website, www.truthinitiative.org. Its governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available to the public upon request.”

“Truth initiative foundation is awaiting additional information in order to timely file a complete and accurate form 990-t by the extended deadline of may 15, 2016. The amount shown as net unrelated business taxable income on line 7b of page 1 of the form 990 is an estimate based on available information.”

“Temporary services: program service expenses 38,277. Management and general expenses 24,218. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 62,495. Consulting: program service expenses 659,935. Management and general expenses 231,939. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 891,874. Contract services: program service expenses 70,683,951. Management and general expenses 215,138. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 70,899,089. Bond fees: program service expenses 0. Management and general expenses 51,600. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 51,600. Honorarium: program service expenses 7,000. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 7,000.”

“Unrealized loss on swaps -941,842. Rounding variance -1.”

“The truth initiative foundation d/b/a truth initiative (truth initiative) qualifies as a publicly supported organization under all of the facts and circumstances because (a) it normally receives a substantial part of its support from government units, from direct or indirect contributions from the general public, or from a combination of these sources, under the standards set forth in reg. 1.170a-9(f)(3)(i) and (ii); and (b) it is in the nature of a publicly supported organization taking into account the factors set forth in reg. 1.170-a-9(f)(3)(iii) through (vii). A. Ten percent support limitation. The truth initiative normally receives at least 10 percent of its total support from public sources. As set forth in schedule a, part ii, the organization's public support for taxable years 2010 - 2014 was 12.24%. Attraction of public support. The truth initiative maintains a continuous and bona fide program designed to attract public support. The total amount of public support raised by the organization in taxable years 2010-2014 as a result of these efforts was nearly $14.3 million. Examples of efforts to attract public support during the five-year testing period include the following: federal government grants and contracts. The truth initiative maintains a bona fide, continuous and successful program to attract new and additional federal governmental support. As part of this program, the organization has dedicated staff in both its schroeder research institute and finance department to assist with applications for federal support and to manage grants and contracts that are awarded. From tax year 2010 through 2014, the truth initiative submitted over 90 applications for federal grants and contracts. In 2014 alone, we submitted 19 applications to the national institutes of health, the u.s. Food and drug administration and the centers for disease control and prevention for support for research and related activities. All of these applications were consistent with the truth initiative's charitable purpose of mitigating the toll of death and disease caused by the tobacco epidemic. Over the five year period, the truth initiative was awarded 28 federal grants and contracts for a total amount awarded of $17,331,740 million. Other grants. During the five-year testing period, the truth initiative also submitted funding proposals to a number of other entities. The organization received 17 awards for a total amount awarded of $1,076,069. In the current taxable year this included support from, for example, the louisiana public health institute and johns hopkins university(passed through from the robert wood johnson foundation). Other efforts. During the testing period, the truth initiative also engaged in other efforts to attract public support including, for example, participating in the combined federal campaign from cy 2011 to 2014 and conducting fundraising efforts via direct mail. B. Percentage of financial support. The truth initiative was established in 1999 pursuant to the terms of the master settlement agreement negotiated by the attorneys general of 46 states, the district of columbia and five u.s. Territories in settlement of civil actions filed against the major u.s. Tobacco companies for damages due to the harmful effects of tobacco. The states requested that a portion of the funds they received from the tobacco industry be used to establish and fund an organization primarily dedicated to studying and providing public education about the impact of tobacco in order to reduce its use and associated death and disease. The organization also received funding from a similar settlement agreement entered into between the states and the smokeless tobacco companies. Early on the truth initiative's board of directors voted to follow a "perpetuity model" allocating a significant portion of the settlement funds received from 1999 - 2003 for long-term investments (reserve fund), which operates like a quasi-endowment to support future charita”

“Availability of public facilities and services; public participation in programs. The truth initiative provides facilities and services directly for the benefit of the general public on a continuing basis. The organization's truth campaign, begun in 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign ever undertaken in this country; its award-winning advertisements, grass roots tours and appearances, and on-line media communications have provided the facts to millions of teens about tobacco use and industry marketing tactics and has been credited with a significant decline in youth smoking rates. In the summer of 2014, the truth initiative launched a redesigned and updated version of the truth campaign across multiple, national media platforms including television, social media, on-line as well as a grass roots component. The organization has committed to supporting the campaign with a substantial investment of $200 million over three years. The campaign is reaching millions of youth and affecting their attitudes about tobacco and their intentions to smoke. In 2008, the truth initiative and a coalition of public health groups and state public health departments began become an ex , an innovative smoking cessation campaign and website for adult smokers who are ready to quit but need help. The website includes a community where, at no charge, smokers can provide and receive support. The site protocol was developed in conjunction with the mayo clinic and mayo provides clinical support in the form of online interaction with the community. We continue to support the becomeanex.org web site and the ex community through earned media and paid online advertising. For tax year 2014, there were 257,660 unique visitors to the website. In an effort to avoid the harmful effects of second-hand smoke on children, our head start tobacco cessation initiative, begun in 2004, provides staff training and other assistance to head start programs so they can identify tobacco users in students' homes and refer them to state and local cessation services, including quitlines. During the reporting year, the truth initiative initiated a program in which it provided grants and technical assistance to 38 community colleges and five historically black colleges and universities to support the establishment of tobacco-free policies at these institutions which serve large numbers of young adults from low-income and minority communities, the program will be expanded in upcoming year. The truth initiative's youth leadership institute partners with locally based programs to provide training and technical assistance to support the efforts of high school students involved in tobacco control. The truth initiative's kenneth e. Warner lecture series, which is broadcast on-line to thousands of stakeholders, encourages a dialogue among public health leaders on key tobacco policy issues. Each year the truth initiative awards the dr. Alma s. Adams scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to improving public health and to raising awareness about the risks of tobacco use. The truth initiative also supports and conducts research on the causes of tobacco addiction and methods for controlling tobacco use, including by young people, and it regularly publishes scholarly studies which make the results of this research available throughout the public health and broader scientific communities. During the testing period, truth initiative researchers published over 180 articles in peer-reviewed scientific, medical and other scholarly journals. These publications and journals have included the new england journal of medicine, american journal of preventive medicine, the journal of pediatric psychology, the journal of substance abuse treatment, pediatrics, the journal of the american medical association (jama), plos one, the american journal of drug and alcohol abuse, the american journal of public health, and the journal of cardiopulminary rehabilitatio”