Editor's note: This recasts 13th graph to clarify when Yellowstone Forever's fiscal year runs and that Fiscal 2020 ended six months before Lisa Diekmann arrived at the organization. It also includes the organization's expectation that the current fiscal year, FY21 which ends Sunday and reflects almost entirely operations during calendar year 2020, will show net income of approximately $3 million.
As Yellowstone National Park is moving from winter into the season of rebirth, spring, so too is the Yellowstone Forever organization being reborn, so to speak, with new leadership, a leaner budget, closer operational scrutiny, and a renewed commitment to supporting the park.
After being severely hamstrung by overspending and allegations of insufficient financial oversight that nearly scuttled the nonprofit a year ago, a new CEO has cut her workforce, and their cumulative salaries, roughly in half, reduced spending in other areas including travel and IT, and worked diligently to engage donors.
"I think its given a lot of folks good optimism that not only are we on the right track, but we’re on the right track a lot faster than we thought we would be,” Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly, who had considered severing the park's relationship with Yellowstone Forever, told theTraveler.
Evidence to support Sholly's optimism could arrive in July, when Yellowstone Forever plans to release its 990 -- a financial report that nonprofits must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service -- for Fiscal Year 2021, which the organization closes on Sunday. The 2020 990 showed the organization still bleeding, financially, with an annual deficit of $2.8 million when revenues were matched against expenses, and net assets having slipped to $11.7 million from $14.5 million.
Standing out in that report were $7.3 million in salaries and fundraising expenses of $3.7 million. Heather White, who was hired as CEO and president when the Yellowstone Association and Yellowstone Park Foundation merged in 2016 to form Yellowstone Forever, left in June 2019 yet received a full year's salary and benefits (more than $320,000), an arrangement made before her successor arrived.
Despite the ailing ledgers, the board of directors was able to convince Lisa Diekmann to lead the organization. It was a homecoming of sorts, as Diekmann in 1996 had been the founding executive director of the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Between then and now she worked for The Wilderness Society and as director of development for the Bridger Ski Foundation. Since arriving at Yellowstone Forever last August, she has reduced the outstanding $3.6 million balance on the organization's two lines of credit by $1.4 million, and plans to have it completely erased by June 2022.
"I'm confident we can do that," she said earlier this month during the first of two interviews. Diekmann also cut the organization's workforce, which had grown to 204, by about half, along with slicing the $7.3 million in salaries by half.
"It was, it was," replied Diekmann when asked if those cuts were painful. "But everybody really leaned in and I think we’ve turned the corner and things are looking good. I can tell you also that the leadership team took reductions in pay, including me." (How much of a reduction she took from White's $320,000+ package will be revealed in the upcoming 990.)
Near Collapse
The near disintegration of Yellowstone Forever was a staggering development. At its birth in 2016 it had been heralded by White as "a powerful force for education and philanthropy to protect this wonderland that we love so much."
At the time of the 2016 merger, Yellowstone Association arrived with assets of $13.6 million, while the Yellowstone Park Foundation came with $7.2 million. That nearly $21 million slowly but steadily declined in a short handful of years to $14.5 million at the end of FY20.
Yellowstone Forever's first 990, for 2016, shows the organization took in $4.5 million in contributions and grants, but had nearly $5.7 million in expenses, and wound up with a $380,323 shortfall for the year. In 2017 the nonprofit received $10.9 million in grants and contributions, but expenses had more than tripled, to $17.5 million, for another, bigger, annual shortfall, of $1.6 million. For 2018, or FY19, the organization reported $10.3 million in grants and contributions, and expenses of $19 million, for a loss for the year of $3.8 million.
As the debts were growing, board disagreements also led to many of the directors that came from the Yellowstone Association resigning en masse.
Yellowstone Forever intends to send $4 million to the national park for projects this year/Rebecca Latson
Yellowstone Forever’s fiscal year makes tracking its progress confusing. It ends at the end of February. As a result, the Fiscal 2020 “year” actually reflects the bulk of calendar year 2019. For that fiscal year, which closed in February 2020, or roughly six months before Diekmann arrived, overall income for the organization stood at $14.3 million, with income from grants and donations sliding to $9.7 million (from $10.3 million), while expenses rang in at $17.2 million. The annual loss was $2.8 million.
Fiscal 2021 was somewhat hamstrung by Covid, as it upset Yellowstone Forever’s retail operations. Not only was Yellowstone closed for part of the year, but all of its largest visitor centers, where Yellowstone Forever maintains retail outlets, were shuttered entirely by the pandemic. The popular Yellowstone Institute, which offers interpretive programs throughout the park, was idled through the summer before bringing back some winter programs.
And yet, Diekmann said Friday that the organization is forecasting a net income of approximately $3 million for Fiscal 2021, which closes Sunday.
How Covid impacts operations this summer is a wild card Yellowstone Forever will have to react to. The organization last year did receive a $1.5 million PPP loan from the federal government, and it plans to apply for most of that to be forgiven. Looking ahead, Diekmann could find herself adjusting the organization on the fly if Covid again greatly impacts park operations.
"We didn’t have any education programs (last summer), but I think that was the right call with Covid," she said. "We did get those back up and running for winter, with winter lodging and learning. And then we are gearing up for lodging and learning again this summer, field seminars, private tours, retail. We’re waiting for our lead from the Park Service."
Diekmann also foresees an end to the red ink.
"We’re budgeting as if things will be the same this year as they were this past year with retail, which is very little, but we have our budget if we are able to open our three big stores," Diekmann added. "But the budget that we have worked out, for starting March 1, we have a balanced budget with net income for our FY22."
And the organization is on track to send about $4 million in grants to the park this year, said Diekmann. "I think we’re back on the right track with this year that’s coming up, and I’m excited about that," she said.
What Do The Accountants Say?
Whether the organization's accountants are happy about things remains to be seen. That firm, Anderson Zurmuehlen & Co. of Bozeman, Montana, had said a year ago that "there is substantial doubt about the ability of Yellowstone Forever to continue as a going concern."
Rob Bush, who had served as Yellowstone Forever's vice president for operations until he was let go last June as the organization faltered, told the Traveler at the time that he thought there needed to be a forensic audit to straighten out the organization's books and instill confidence in them.
Diekmann wouldn't say whether such an audit had occurred, saying instead that, "I’m very comfortable with where the books are. We would not have had clean audits if there was any concern about allocations, and all of the projects that we have committed to fund at the park are funded. Things are exactly where they should be. We have separate accounts for restricted projects from unrestricted projects, so I’m very comfortable where we are financially right now.”
The accountants, she added, gave the financials "a clean bill of health."
While Diekmann initially said the organization would not be making public the accountants' financial statement regarding the FY20 990 because it was not required, earlier this week during a second interview, which included board Chairman Kevin Butt, she said it would be released. "As soon as those audited financials are approved by the board, we will post them to our website," she said.
Butt had a ringside seat for the near-breakdown of Yellowstone Forever and is working hard with Diekmann on its recovery. The environmental sustainability director for Toyota North America, Inc., he had joined the Yellowstone Park Foundation shortly before the 2016 merger. After Kay Yeager, who was chair, left the board when Diekmann's hiring was announced, Butt moved in as interim chair, and soon thereafter the "interim" title was dropped.
"...we all realize what benefits we can bring to the table for Yellowstone and maintaining it as the iconic park that it is." -- Yellowstone Forever Board Chairman Kevin Butt
One of the first things he told the rest of the board when he assumed the chairmanship was that the directors need to keep moving forward, but also not forget to look backwards from time to time "so we learn from exactly what went wrong," he said.
"One of the other things I said we had to do was complete transparency. We have to be transparent not only with ourselves, but with those that are our customers. Our main customer and the one we always have to work with is the park. That’s our focus. So we’re trying to do everyting we can to keep that in mind," he said. "We’re developing, and have developed, some leading indicators to help us maintain a good positive view of where we’re at at all times, so that we don’t repeat any of those mistakes that were made in the past. And we’re doing a good job of that. To me, that’s a tremendous step forward for us."
Those "mistakes," he said, were not paying close attention to the revenues and expenses.
"We’ve got to pay close attention to what’s going on financially, and to understand what monies that we’re bringing in, are those monies that we can actually talk about and use?" Butt said from his Kentucky office. "And not go out over the skis, if you will. So we went over the skis a little bit and overcommitted ourselves. We were thinking really big and we might have overstaffed and we didn’t gain the financial benefits of where we thought we might be as we did that.”
Regaining Donor Trust
Diekmann understands the hesitance of past donors to renew their commitment to the organization.
"I appreciate their concern and I think that the best thing that they can do is just watch our progress," she said. "I think we will please them and they will see that we are doing a really great job on behalf of Yellowstone.”
A good part of the donor outreach has involved Sholly.
“I probably had more direct conversations with donors, both old donors who had disengaged and want to reengage, and than new donors who are just wanting to get in the mix with Yellowstone since Lisa has been the CEO then I did for my first year-and-a-half in the job, total," he said. "Not that I didn’t speak to donors that first year-and-a-half, I did. But I can't even count the number of people that she’s facilitated me talking to about park priorities, about progress that we’re making, whether that’s on conservation, education, visitor experience type projects. I think that that’s a big reason why the philanthropy has gone up.”
Yellowstone Forever hopes to be able to conduct more Yellowstone Institute classes this summer/Rebecca Latson
As disruptive as the past year might have been for Yellowstone Forever, the president and CEO sees great opportunity for the organization.
"I think for us it’s still a transitional year, and any growth is going to be thoughtful," she said. "I am absolutely committed to fiscal responsibility. But, I am not going to settle for anything less than the best. I think there are ways that we can do things better, better in philanthropy, better in education, better in retail. And just because we did it before doesn’t mean that we need to do it again. But we are going to do it to the best of our ability.”
While Sholly, Diekmann, and Butt all talk optimistically about the organization's future, near- and long-term, the board's current makeup is almost identical to that which was in place under White. Butt said that will change.
“We’ve had some people that have rotated off the board, and we’re getting ready to fill some seats with new people," he said. "Getting some fresh looks and fresh talent that can add to our discussions. ... I think we’re really turning this thing in the right direction with the right people and with the right involvement.”
Also new, in a way, to Yellowstone Forever is Kristi Mills, who followed Diekmann back to the organization to be chief financial officer. Mills, who has a deep background in accounting, had for 10 years (2000-2011) served as the Yellowstone Park Foundation's director of operations. She returns after stints as a corporate controller, accounting instructor and, most recently, director of finance for the Museum of the Rockies.
“Put this in perspective of where we were and where we are now and dealing with the Covid year as well," Butt said near the end of our conversation. "I think we’ve really made a tremendous turnabout in getting us back on the right track and focusing on what I think we need to be focusing on. I’m really happy that we’re able to do $4 million to the park. It’s a start and hopefully we can grow from that. So we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
“I think Yellowstone Forever gets to work with an iconic park, Yellowstone, and I think we all realize what benefits we can bring to the table for Yellowstone and maintaining it as the iconic park that it is," he continued. "It is a responsibility, but it’s also a tremendous privilege. We want to make sure our customer stays happy, and we can do that through the work that we do. That’s what makes it so exciting."
Comments
Interesring article. I have to admit I'm a bit surprised. I would like to see what happened in more detail on the finances but understand that is the past. Pretty impressive actually that they appeared to have rebounded so quickly. Hopefully for Yellowstone's sake, it continues. Sounds like the park will benefit greatly from this progress.
When working at the Gardiner and Mammoth Yellowstone Forever stores, in 2018, our sales team excelled in selling memberships because we believed in the goals of educating the public about the magnificent features of the park. We felt like ambassador's, not just sales personnel. We were extremely disappointed in the mismanagement of funds. Speaking for myself I am encouraged about the future of YF under the leadership of Lisa Dickmann.
I personally want to thank my coworkers Deb, Chuck, Wendy and Laura for their great spirit, professionalism, and love of the park. Our team will be friends forever.
It is a pleasure to read and hear good news regarding Yellowstone Forever. For me, as a local and as a previously vocal critic of the financial issues and the board's culpability, I am happy to read this. For me, the change in my attitude came when certain people were re-hired by Yellowstone Forever. One person, in particular, was targeted and treated poorly. This person is a straight shooter who suffers no fools and if they are willing to go back to YF, that alone makes me hopoeful and willing to support this organization. Kudos to Lisa and Cam on the hard work they are doing, and their commitment to Yellowstone and Y.F.
Most of us know and the article alludes to the fact that Yellowstone Forever (YF) was formed through the merger of the old Yellowstone Association (old YA) and the Yellowstone Park Foundation. But, to refresh memories, the old YA was pretty much run by less business savvy conservationists and park lovers who weren't compensated overly well for their efforts. But, they successfully ran the park's bookstores beginning in 1933 and the Yellowstone Institute beginning in 1976 . As the article indicates, the Yellowstone Park Foundation wasn't formed until 1996 with YF's current CEO Lisa Diekmann as its executive director and YF began operations as a merged entity in 2016.
Over the many decades it operated, the old YA made annual contributions to the park. Adjusting for inflation, the last annual contributions made by the old YA were not vastly different from some of the recent contributions made by YF; but, the old YA had no notable financial crises either. Prior to the merger, the Yellowstone Park Foundation promised that, through the merger, they would bring higher levels of business, retail, and general management expertise to the operations of the old YA; but, YF ran aground financially in only four years.
Now, with that said, there needs to be a clarification. The fourth paragraph of the article seems to report correct figures; but, the tenth paragraph indicates that the old YA brought "assets of $13.6 million" into the merger, "while the Yellowstone Park Foundation came with $7.2 million" and that combined "nearly $21 million" in net assets inherited by YF through the merger "slowly but steadily declined in a short handful of years to $14.5 million at the end of FY20." However, YF posted what they call their "FY20" Form 990 tax filing on their "Financials" webpage at the end of January, 2021. Although labeled their "FY20" Form 990 tax filing, it actually covers the period from March 1, 2019, through February 29, 2020, and line 22 under Part I of that Form 990 shows the nonprofit's net assets had actually dropped to ~$11.7 million by February, 29, 2020. Using the correct figures and dates, YF is showing a loss of ~$9 million worth of net assets, representing ~$9 million worth of the public's recent and past donations to Yellowstone National Park, over the four years ending February, 29, 2020. And, for me, the loss of ~$9 million is more than an "it's all in the past" issue, especially if factors that led to the loss of these donation monies remain in place to possibly cause future mischief ...and some of those factors may.
In the sixth paragraph, the article indicates that, since assuming her leadership role in YF last August, Ms Diekmann "has reduced the outstanding $3.6 million balance on the organization's two lines of credit by $1.4 million" and this seems like a laudable accomplishment. However, in the sixteenth paragraph, the article reminds us that YF received a $1.5 million loan from the federal government's CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) last year despite many of the park's visitor center bookstores being closed due to the pandemic and despite YF not needing to hire or pay anywhere close to their normal numbers of working staff for those bookstores. So, without the usual number of paychecks to protect last year, there has always been some uncertainty as to why YF needed or even deserved this loan and how they actually used those funds.
This raises questions. First, if YF actually used $1.4 million worth of those Paycheck Protection Program funds, not to protect paychecks, but to pay down the balance on its lines of credit and if Ms Diekmann, in discussing the topic, has neglected to mention that's how the debt was reduced, should that be construed as just an oversight or could it be seen reflecting a potential issue? Second, if YF actually used $1.4 million worth of those Paycheck Protection Program funds to pay down its lines of credit rather than protect paychecks and, as the article goes on to report in that same sixteenth paragraph, Ms Diekmann already "plans to apply" for most of that loan to be forgiven, could that be construed as a $1.5 million loan of the public's tax dollars being either obtained or then forgiven under false pretenses? Third, if most of that $1.5 million loan of the public's tax dollars was or is being used to pay down YF's lines of credit, could that be construed as an effort to create a false narrative of financial solvency?
Also in the sixth paragraph of the article, Ms Diekmann is quoted as having "plans" to have YF's debt "completely erased by June of 2022." That would be good; but, I remember Michael Wright reporting on YF in the November 10, 2019, edition of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. In that article, he reported on an interview with Ms Diekmann's predecessor. In that interview, John Walda was "really pleased" YF had "paid off about $1.8 million" of its previous "$4.35 million" in debts and proclaimed that he expected to get that debt to zero "within the next fiscal year." That didn't happen and the point is that, while YF's progress is laudable, the organization may still have more work ahead.
The truth is that nobody has greater affection for Yellowstone National Park and what it represents than I do and nobody recognizes the importance of having a trustworthy nonprofit supporting the park more than I do. I would not have spent so much of my time and effort on pushing to have this mess cleared up if that were not the case. I truly do want to see Yellowstone Forever being reborn; however, there have been premature celebratory announcements in the past only to have the blessed event unexpectedly resemble Rosemary's baby.
In the past, the superintendent and what remains of the YF gang have had a tendency to rationalize, to themselves, that it's vital for them to keep whistling past the graveyard, projecting optimism, burying past problems, declaring them to be old news, saying whatever they think will keep the ball rolling, hiding what they think won't, and generally putting on a great show; but, that has sometimes been a self-defensive sales pitch. It's counterproductive. At this point, it might be more effective to focus on the three key things that might facilitate a genuine rebirth of YF; the first being continuing the progress toward timeliness, transparency, and full disclosure with regard to the nonprofit's financial information; the second being immediate and complete reform of the Board of Directors; and the third being a similar immediate reform of the staff.
It's obvious why timeliness, transparency, and full disclosure in the nonprofit's financial information is critical, especially after what happened in the past and given what may still be happening now. Yes, Ms Diekmann says it's all better and we'll see for ourselves in July; but, many of us have heard that before. Delays in releasing financial data hamper reviews of that data, provide time to bury evidence, and encourage mischief.
Next, it was reported at the time Ms Diekmann assumed leadership that she had been tasked with stabilizing finances and restoring confidence in the board of directors. Unfortunately, you can't restore what never existed. Longtime supporters of the old YA and YF have been demanding the immediate and total reform of the Board of Directors for years, since the merger. First, if any member of YF's Board had been properly vigilant with regard to what was being perpetrated within YF, they would have raised the issues themselves earlier and the financial debacle would have been averted or at least mitigated. The fact that they don't seem to have taken any such action themselves could easily be seen to imply negligence, incompetence, complicity, or some combination. Second, if any of those board members were or are actually capable and worthy of their positions on YF's Board, they would have been so vigilant, able to recognize the YF disaster as it began to form, and would have been willing and able to take at least some preventative action. In essence, the disaster would not have happened, at least not on anything like the same scale. The fact that the YF collapse went on as long as it did and was as bad as it was implies the board members were not and are not up to the task, whether ethically or intellectually or both.
I recognize that Yeager and Walda have already left the board; but, the remaining board members are all also supposed to be well educated adults, all supposedly on the board because of their allegedly mature business, legal, or managerial skills. Any and all of these people should have had the capability to recognize a small operation, like YF, going as far off its financial rails as YF did. All the members of the board also had and still have a responsibility to ensure proper conduct of the organization; yet, the organization certainly did not conduct itself properly and it was on their watch. I and many others believe that, based on what should be a deep sense of shame over what has already happened in YF, the board members should have all voluntarily resigned, in humiliation and embarrassment if not disgrace, long before now; but, the board members who were there as the ~$9 million in recent and past public donations were being siphoned away are still there.
There has been talk of the need to reform YF's Board of Directors for years; but, aside from talk, there is still no sign there is going to be much board turnover anytime in the foreseeable future. In fact, it doesn't look like they're really planning much of any board turnover at all. That apparent stalling or even stonewalling of reform, seems to be a subtle, but clear, signal that those board members aren't going anywhere, perhaps that they consider Ms Diekmann to be no more than just another employee answering to them, and perhaps that she isn't really going to be allowed to reform or correct much at all.
And then, there is the need for immediate reform of the staff and we can look at two examples of a much wider problem, a problem that has actually gotten worse, not better, since that first employee purge in the spring of 2019. Even before that, excessive sweetheart compensation packages for connected staff was a recognized out-of-control problem from the very beginning of the merged operations. YF's "FY20" Form 990 indicates that, during YF's 2020 fiscal year, the top eight employees received a total of ~$1.4 million worth of publicly donated monies and another eight employees each received at least $100K as well, for a total of at least $2.4 million in publicly donated monies doled out to a total of sixteen well connected employees in a nonprofit grossing less than $15 million. Just in that single year, those sixteen connected employees accounted for at least $2.4 million out of a total of ~$7.3 million in compensation for the nonprofit's entire 204 paid employees and 101 volunteers, which would be at least a third of the compensation going to less than 8% of the paid employees, about 5% of the total workforce. This problem was so severe and so legally dangerous that it prompted extraordinarily high turnover in YF's human resources management team and, although I lost count, YF went through a sequence of at least four or five human resources managers in less than two years.
But, by the summer of 2018, as supporters and other, less well connected, staff began voicing concerns about excessive compensation packages at the top, the apparent response was to bring in yet another well connected, high ranking, sweetheart hire to work for Atwood and with Keaton. This individual incrementally assumed personal control of most staff hiring and firing processes and seemed to be at the center of what appeared to be a multi-pronged campaign of racial, ethnic, political, and potentially even religious discrimination within YF. These efforts, which seemed to be consistent patterns and practices, appeared to include nurturing and sustaining a hostile work environment for older and diverse workers, intimidation and retaliation against potential whistleblowers on or witnesses to financial mischief, and the implementation of discriminatory employment processes designed to complement and further reinforce YF's efforts to use intimidation and retaliation to block disclosure of the serious "financial issues" within the nonprofit.
Literally dozens of employees were ushered out, forced out, or left out during a couple of waves of purges in the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019. Although YF has since repeatedly tried to characterize what happened as just what had to be done to address YF's deficits and debt, these purges clearly appeared to target many of the nonprofit's most reliable onsite moneymakers, many of YF's most efficient, experienced, and effective retail staff, its highest performers and retail revenue producers. No, these purges weren't aimed at reducing costs and improving performance; what this individual orchestrated appeared to be more of a discriminatory hiring and firing agenda designed to rid YF of potential witnesses and whistleblowers and prioritize political, ethnic, racial, special interest, or even religious affinities and affiliations over criteria directly relevant to job performance. Anyone who was older or had experience with park operations appeared to potentially be a target; anyone with any connection to the old YA appeared to potentially be a target; and anyone who YF imagined might reveal anything about "financial problems" within the nonprofit appeared to potentially be a target.
What happened within YF in 2018 and 2019 was an extremely memorable YF experience, especially for those of us who know how honorable operations are actually supposed to be conducted, and the vivid memories of that experience form a legacy among dozens of still quietly influential park lovers and supporters. It's a legacy that won't easily be forgotten. And, the individual who created that legacy remains on YF's staff as a constant reminder.
Many of us also wondered, as we watched, what could possibly be prompting the behavior we were seeing over the past four years in a charity, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting a national park. There may be some clues. One of YF's parent organizations, the old YA, employed a longtime staff member who had extensive knowledge of the park, but left YF, apparently upset with its direction and the way it handled its finances. YF replaced him with an individual with deep personal ties to an outside rightwing political lobbying group, a group long supported by rightwing politicians. This is a lobbying group, a group in and specifically focused on the "influence" business. This group is strident enough that people following this group have recently even been voicing a distaste for, if not direct opposition to, the concept of democracy and our form of government. And, the group has long embraced privatization beliefs so strident as to be antithetical to ideas of national parks, the protection of public lands, and the science of conservation biology. Yet, YF maintains this individual, with deep personal ties to this rightwing political lobbying group, on its staff and in a position to implicitly lobby and influence how YF interacts with Yellowstone National Park.
So, I agree that YF is making progress; however, it's what is known as a "mixed bag" so to speak. There is still much hidden, much still not completely visible within the organization. Ms Diekmann seems to be doing what she should and can; but, I've been fooled before. We all hope it's a glass half full; but, a glass half full of crocodile tears might still be a somewhat toxic cocktail. We still don't know.
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Having served at an instructor at the Yellowstone Institute over most of the last twenty years, I have to say that I am very encouraged and optimistic that Yellowstone Forever is on the right track for once again becoming a vital and viable organization under the leadership of Ms. Diekmann. Yellowstone National Park greatly needs YF to do well now more than ever.
I just read this article on Julianne's post and trust her judgment completely. I was particularly disheartened about the situation with what I will likely always call "Yellowstone Institute" or "YI." Having read this, I'm now willing to support YF again. Thanks to Lisa and Cam and all who worked to do the right thing for the park!
Thank you, Butch, for your "take" on all this. Seeing you hopeful makes me so. Thanks for your service to the park, by the way.
I was shocked to learn that Heather White received parting gifts in excess of $300,000. That is just shameful. Taxpayers -- people like you and me -- pay for those parting gifts. There is no such thing as "tax exempt." The taxes are simply transferred to to taxpayers. I was appalled to learn that some of the board members that presided over YF's near collapse are still serving on the Board. These "name" directors may have written some checks, but it is clear they did not review YF's financials. They relied (at their peril) on the executive director. How else can you explain YF's precipitous decline, month after month? They need to resign . . . now. A word about the employees. There were too many, and they were paid too much, but they could do nothing to reverse the freefall. Unfortunately, they were the first to go. A lot of good people were slashed from the paryroll.