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Nonprofiteer
← SPEECH FIRST INC

Form 990 for tax year 2022

Filed by SPEECH FIRST INC.

Totals

Total revenue
$2,325,417
Total expenses
$2,152,448
Contributions and grants received
$2,325,417
Grants paid
$0
Program service revenue
$0
Investment income
$0
Other revenue
$0
Total assets, end of year
$543,967
Total liabilities, end of year
$25,431
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
$518,536
Program services expenses (Part IX)
$1,601,167
Management and general expenses
$132,090
Fundraising expenses
$419,191
Program service expenses (Part III)
$1,601,167

Program services were 74.4% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

    $2,325,417

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

    total $169,000 · program services $131,736 · management and general $19,739 · fundraising $17,525

  • 7 · Other salaries and wages

    total $18,263 · program services $14,239 · management and general $2,128 · fundraising $1,896

  • 8 · Pension plan contributions

    total $6,170 · program services $4,810 · management and general $720 · fundraising $640

  • 9 · Other employee benefits

    total $3,520 · management and general $3,520

  • 10 · Payroll taxes

    total $15,212 · program services $11,798 · management and general $1,828 · fundraising $1,586

  • 11b · Fees: legal

    total $1,070,543 · program services $1,070,543

  • 11c · Fees: accounting

    total $20,831 · management and general $20,831

  • 11e · Fees: professional fundraising services

    total $375,458 · fundraising $375,458

  • 11g · Fees: other

    total $345,933 · program services $306,944 · management and general $38,989

  • 13 · Office expenses

    total $36,406 · management and general $21,116 · fundraising $15,290

  • 17 · Travel

    total $46,974 · program services $36,618 · management and general $5,486 · fundraising $4,870

  • 19 · Conferences, conventions and meetings

    total $24,943 · program services $19,479 · management and general $3,538 · fundraising $1,926

  • 23 · Insurance

    total $4,643 · management and general $4,643

  • 24a · Other expenses: DUES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

    total $14,116 · program services $5,000 · management and general $9,116

  • 24b · Other expenses: TELEPHONE

    total $436 · management and general $436

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $346,122 · end of year $40,137

  • 3 · Pledges and grants receivable

    end of year $500,000

  • 9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

    beginning of year $4,456 · end of year $3,830

  • 17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

    beginning of year $5,011 · end of year $25,431

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $345,567 · end of year $518,536

Mission and programs · 2022

Mission

SPEECH FIRST'S MISSION IS TO DEFEND STUDENTS WHO SEEK TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS TO FREE SPEECH, EXPRESSION OR ASSOCIATION. BY COMING TOGETHER, WE'VE CREATED A NATIONWIDE COMMUNITY OF FREE SPEECH SUPPORTERS TO REASSURE STUDENTS THAT THEY WON'T FIGHT THESE CASES ALONE AND THAT THEY'LL BE SUPPORTED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY: ON CAMPUS, IN THE MEDIA AND IN COURT.

Activities or mission (Part I)

SPEECH FIRST WILL DEFEND STUDENTS' FREE SPEECH RIGHTS ON CAMPUS. THROUGH ADVOCACY, LITIGATION, AND EDUCATION, WE WILL PUT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ON NOTICE THAT SHUTTING DOWN UNWANTED SPEECH WILL NO LONGER BE TOLERATED.

  • SPEECH FIRST DEFENDS STUDENTS' FREE SPEECH RIGHTS ON CAMPUS THROUGH LITIGATION, ADVOCACY, AND EDUCATION. IN FY22, SPEECH FIRST FILED A FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON ON BEHALF OF ITS STUDENT MEMBERS ALLEGING ITS POLICIES VIOLATED STUDENTS' FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH OVERBROAD, VAGUE POLICIES DESIGNED TO CHILL STUDENT SPEECH AND EXPRESSION. SPEECH FIRST WON THIS LAWSUIT IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT COURT OF TEXAS, HOUSTON DIVISION.SPEECH FIRST ALSO WON ITS CASE AGASINT THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA IN THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT'S U.S. COURT OF APPEALS.SPEECH FIRST SUBMITTED ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENTS TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REGARDING ITS NEWLY PROPOSED TITLE IX RULES. SPEECH FIRST FILED AN AMICUS BRIEF IN THE SFFA V. HARVARD AND UNC SUPREME COURT CASES.SPEECH FIRST PUBLISHED ITS FIRST IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORTS ON BIAS REPORTING SYSTEMS AND FRESHMAN ORIENTATIONS.IN 2022, CHERISE TRUMP MADE A NUMBER OF MEDIA APPEARANCES AND PUBLISHED MULTIPLE OP-EDS ADDRESSING THE FREE SPEECH CRISIS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES. ON A REGULAR BASIS, TRUMP SPEAKS AND MEETS WITH STUDENT GROUPS AND VISITS UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO EDUCATE STUDENTS ON THEIR FREE SPEECH RIGHTS.

    Expenses $1,601,167

As filed on the 2022 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

  • Nicole Neily

    DIRECTOR (FORMER PRESIDENT)

    Total calculated
    $6,563
    From this org
    $6,563
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Jamil Jaffer

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Montse Alvarado

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Kathryn Ciano Mauler

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Matthew Foldi

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Josh Holdenried

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Max Eden

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Cherise Trump

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $114,400
    From this org
    $110,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $4,400
    Hours/week
    40

  • Mary Ellen Beatty

    DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

    Total calculated
    $60,770
    From this org
    $59,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $1,770
    Hours/week
    20

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.

Schedule J

Answered yes

  • 3 · Form 990 of other organizations
  • 3 · Written employment contract
  • 3 · Compensation survey or study
  • 3 · Approval by the board or compensation committee

Answered no

  • 4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
  • 4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan
  • 4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
  • 5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
  • 5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
  • 6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
  • 6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
  • 7 · Other non-fixed payments
  • 8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2022
Filed
13 November 2023
IRS schema version
2022v5.0
Source object
202323179349309932

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