Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Nat'l Minority AIDS Council:
$970,000 Deficit Over Three-Years


Yesterday I blogged about eleven gay and AIDS organizations that don't post IRS 990s on their web sites. One of those groups, the National Minority AIDS Council, has incurred a deficit in fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The cumulative deficit comes to $969,624.

When I spoke with NMAC's longtime executive director Paul A. Kawata, pictured, he was adamantly committed to taking no steps making it easy for the public or reporters or anyone visiting his site to find his three most recent IRS 990s on-site.

He said that it's enough transparency that NMAC's tax returns are on GuideStar, but when I mentioned not visitor to his site knows what the heck an IRS 990 is never mind about the GuideStar site, he was dismissive of my points.

I urged him to join the many gay and AIDS organizations - among them GMHC, NCLR, SF and NYC gay centers, HRC, GLAAD, PFLAG, SF AIDS Foundation, Food and Friends, AIDS Foundation Chicago, NAPWA, Immigration Equality, AMFAR, Lambda Legal - whose best practices for transparency equals posting several years' IRS 990s on-site.

After my call with the very defensive Kawata, I told a friend it had been like arguing with a gay marriage opponent, one full of irrational fears. While the transparency tide clearly goes more and more toward voluntary on-site posting for all responsible nonprofits with intelligent executives at the top, Kawata remains committed to doing nothing to help anyone find his IRS 990s.

Kawata's salary in the same three year period as the deficits - 2008, $247,103; 2009, $246,108; 2010, $245,115 - cumulatively came to $738,326.

I will now do what Kawata fears and link to NMAC's three current tax returns at GuideStar. Give them a read.

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