Financial Information

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Putting Your Dollars to Work
Our Board and staff work hard to keep TTSS lean and effective. As documented in our 2007 Federal Tax Form 990, 95% of our expenses were for program, 4% for administration and 1% for fundraising. We have kept our administrative costs unusually low because Board members have provided substantial volunteer administrative assistance. If you are interested in volunteering for TTSS, we have several positions available and welcome you to contact our office today.

Core Programs and Operations
In 2008 our Core budget (Unrestricted Funds) was just under $70,000. This amount funded three part-time staff, our core advocacy, population, habitat and public education programs, our 21st Conference, postage, phone, website, and administration of TTSS. Our Core budget comes from membership dues, individual, family, and business donations, sales, investment income and grants. We are working hard to increase grant funding in coming years. If you have talents in this area we welcome your help and support.

Special Projects
Each year we also conduct a variety of Special Projects (Restricted Funds) that we receive for certain purposes. Often these are specific habitat projects or responses to a specific threat or opportunity. These are typically funded by foundations or resource agency partnership programs but may also be at the bequest of a concerned individual. Our Special Projects (Restricted Funds) budget fluctuates widely from year to year, due to the initiation and completion of various projects, and the relatively large costs of certain habitat improvement efforts, such as the Elwha Dam mitigation project in 2008. Funds are routinely carried over on multi-year projects.

Unrestricted Donations are Crucial
These are challenging times for non-profit organizations. To keep our Core Programs strong through times of economic turmoil, we are working hard to increase our unrestricted assets. To insure long term program stability, we try to end each year with about 75% of the next year's Core Budget in hand. During 2008, an expected grant did not materialize and we had to spend down our unrestricted reserves. We ended 2008 with unrestricted assets of $40,045, or 60% of our 2009 Core budget. To keep our Core Programs strong, we plan to expand and diversify our fundraising efforts to end 2009 with 75% of the 2010 Core budget in hand. This will be essential to ensure that TTSS as we streamline our operations with a transition to a new office and a push for growth through new membership in 2009. Your membership and donations keep our programs strong - thank you!

Statement of Financial Position