ACSH: Fiscal Year Report Ending June 30, 2022

This was another year of fiscal stagnation for ACSH as it continued doing far worse than in its heyday. Total revenue was $898,892, an increase of about $13,000 from the prior year. Revenue minus expenses was -$82,774, slightly worse than the prior year. 

What jumps out is that $671,909 of expenses were for salaries, other compensation, and benefits. So, three-quarters of revenue is listed on the that line, but that's hard to square with the fact that ACSH lists just three paid employees, and their salaries and compensations are much less than that amount. Maybe it dropped a load of loot on the cringy update to the uninteresting propaganda video, Big Fears, Little Risks. It has a pathetic 1,500 views on YouTube a year after it was uploaded. I'm not an accountant and I have no interesting in doing a forensic examination of ACSH's IRS Form 990.

Again, in 1985 the organization's total revenue was $856,216, so, adjusted for inflation it is a much less well endowed organization now. To have kept up with inflation, ACSH would have needed 2022 fiscal year revenue of $2,329,000, or about $1.4 million more than it obtained. 

ACSH doesn't seem to publish booklets anymore; it's efforts are mostly concentrated on social media and opinion essays for newspapers and web sites. I also apparently has (or had) an email newsletter. Form 990 only shows a post office box address, so perhaps it no longer has an office. That would be no surprise given its rent payment problems mentioned in a prior blog entry. (That said, I'm not sure it has no office, or maybe it has a home office.)

ACHS is a vestige of it's prior self, and it never reached lofty heights at any time in terms of visibility or influence. It's present influence on social media may be out of proportion to it's size, but it doesn't seem so. It has, for instance, a lame 6,163 followers on Twitter, which hosts the most vibrant debate on social issues. I rarely visit Twitter, but I do see some interesting tweets and retweets from ACSH, especially on drugs, "addiction," and vaping, but it needs a vastly bigger following to matter. Poignantly, it might be a more ethical organization now than at any other time in its history. I don't think it ever had a chance of becoming a large organization because it would have needed to rely on corporate largess, and corporations are more interested in good publicity than in "sound science." Bigger corporations gain great advantage from the government regulations that Beth Whelan claimed to (but too often didn't) oppose, so long as they are sufficiently complex and expensive to restrict competition. (See: The Triumph of Conservatism, by Gabriel Kolko.)

The longest-ever employee of ACSH, who is still on-board, is Cheryl Martin, now identified as Director of Operations//Treasurer/Secretary, as well as a member of the board. She has been with ACSH since its early years, and has been of incalculable value. Cheryl was there during my brief stint, and was always a reliable presence and a sound voice. I hope her extended service has been rewarding in every meaningful way. Her tenure and contributions are remarkable achievements.

ACSH's Twitter summary

See ACSH's IRS Form 990 at ProPublica.