Truth Initiative Foundation

“A total of thirteen persons served on the board of directors during the fiscal year. Those thirteen are shown in part vii of form 990. As of june 30, 2016 there were a total of ten voting board members serving the organization as disclosed in part vi, lines 1a & 1b, and part i, lines 3 & 4.”

“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, 2018. 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 65,413. Management and general expenses 62,832. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 128,245. Consulting: program service expenses 660,459. Management and general expenses 215,508. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 875,967. Contract services: program service expenses 71,998,779. Management and general expenses 88,887. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 72,087,666. Honorarium: program service expenses 5,100. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 5,100. Management fees: program service expenses 0. Management and general expenses 30,000. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 30,000.”

“Unrealized gain on swaps 2,282,508. Rounding variance -3.”

“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. 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 2012 - 2016 was 12.84%. Attraction of public support. 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 2012-2016 as a result of these efforts was nearly $15 million. Examples of efforts to attract public support during the five-year testing period include the following: federal government grants and contracts. 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 2012 through 2016, truth initiative submitted 88 applications for federal grants and contracts. In 2016 alone, we submitted 15 applications to the national institutes of health for support for research and related activities. All of these applications were consistent with truth initiative's charitable purpose of mitigating the toll of death and disease caused by the tobacco epidemic. Over the five year period, truth initiative was awarded 32 federal grants and contracts for a total amount awarded of $24,162,374 million. Other grants. During the five-year testing period, truth initiative also submitted funding proposals to a number of other entities. The organization received 14 awards for a total amount awarded of $1,935,802. In the current taxable year this included support from, for example, george washington university and cvs health foundation. B.percentage of financial support. 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 truth initiative's board of directors voted to allocate 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 charitable and educational activities in the years after the settlement payments would cease. The organization's long-term investments (reserve fund) at june 30, 2017 was $857.6 million. Under the terms of the settlement agreements, the last of the normally scheduled payments were received during its 2007 taxable year (ending june 30, 2008). Since that time, because of the cessation of the settlement payments, truth initiative has received an increasingly high percentage of its total support from inves”

“Availability of public facilities and services; public participation in programs. 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, social media and other 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, 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 committed to supporting the campaign with a substantial investment of $200 million over three years through its 2016 tax year and has renewed a substantial funding commitment for the campaign for tax years beyond that. The campaign is reaching millions of youth and affecting their attitudes about tobacco and their intentions to smoke. In 2008, 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 as well as a companion text messaging program to offer tailored cessation resources. The site protocol was developed in conjunction with the mayo clinic and mayo clinic staff provide 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 2016, there were well over 340,000 unique visitors to the website. Beginning in 2016, we have begun an effort to provide ex as a smoking cessation solution for employers, health plans and other payors. This has included a substantial overhaul of the technical capabilities of the site, which is still provided free of charge to the general public. Our hope is this will provide a stream of mission related revenue to support and sustain ex and other truth initiative programming. During this year, fee revenue from this service has been minimal $6,013. In tax year 2014, and continuing through tax year 2016, truth initiative initiated a program in which it provides grants and technical assistance to community colleges and historically black colleges and universities (hbcu's) to support the establishment of tobacco-free policies at these institutions which serve large numbers of young adults from low-income and minority communities. In three years of this program, through tax year 2016, truth initiative has awarded approximately $1,126,250 in grants to community colleges and hbcu's. Truth initiative's youth activism programs also reach out to teens and young adults to educate them about the dangers of tobacco and help them become change agents in their communities. During tax year 2016, this program was supported by $750,000 in grant funding provided by the cvs foundation. In tax year 2016, we directly reached a total of about 116,000 teens and young adults and, through our national summit on youth activism and fellowship programs, provided technical assistance to approximately 100 youth leaders in connection with planning and executing community based projects to highlight the toll of tobacco and recruit their peers. Each year 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. Truth initiative also supports and conducts research on the causes of tobacco addiction and methods for controlling tobacco use, incl”