MFowler
June 12, 2023 at 11:58 pm

79% drop in TIGHAR's support

The latest tax form for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery is out, and it has more than a few interesting/odd/hard to explain bits. A small sampling:

TIGHAR’s “public support,” the gifts, contributions, membership fees, etc., that it collects have dropped precipitously in the last years – from $617,316 in 2016 to $127,294 in 2020. A 79 percent decrease.
Estimated membership stayed at 200, down from an estimated 1,000 just five years ago.
Although no salaries were listed for Executive Director/Secretary Ric Gillespie or his wife and President/Treasurer Pat Thrasher, $43,564 is noted as salaries and benefits elsewhere. This is $980 less than the previous year. Quite a change from the six-figure salaries of a few years ago.
Occupancy, the rent that Gillespie and Thrasher charge TIGHAR to use part of their house for office space, has skyrocketed to $54,002, 40 percent of the total income for the year. For years the occupancy charge was in the single digits. It started going up in 2015, a year after Gillespie moved to his new horse farm and “TIGHAR HQ” in rural Pennsylvania. Although the IRS does allow a charity to be charged for office space by its officers, a double-digit amount for such a small non-profit gives pause.
The amount of money spent on TIGHAR’s various “projects” or “operations,” $73,182, is the smallest total on record since I started keeping track in 2000.

All of this paints a rather interesting picture, but like a Picasso abstract, what it tells you depends on which way you hang it on the wall.

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By: avion ancien - 13th June 2023 at 16:16

As George and Ira Gershwin said, it’s Nice Work If You Can Get It!

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By: MFowler - 13th June 2023 at 14:37

J Boyle said, “Its main function for years seems to have been a source of employment for its staff.”

It does seem that way at times. One other item of interest in the 2020 tax form is information on the “executive committee draw,” a $91,153 loan that TIGHAR made to Gillespie and Thrasher several years ago. The balance due stands at $180,670. Although there is no written agreement on this, the loan was “approved by [the] board or committee” according to the form. The executive committee of TIGHAR is its officers – Gillespie and Thrasher. A loan of this magnitude for such a small non-profit is another thing that gives one pause.

Gillespie is in his mid-70s, but as we speak, he is up in Newfoundland for the umpteenth time to look for signs of the White Bird, Nungesser and Coli’s ill-fated attempt to fly the Atlantic. The last funding appeal noted that ” Each day at the pond [expedition site] will cost $5,000 in helicopter time alone. Please donate what you can.”

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By: dhfan - 13th June 2023 at 10:28

On this side of the pond, I’m not sure it’s ever been relevant.

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By: Sopwith - 13th June 2023 at 09:26

As far as I am concerned TIGAR has been a non-entity for 30 years+. I am amazed that they survived so long but it proves what can be done with smoke and mirrors.

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By: J Boyle - 13th June 2023 at 07:13

At this point, what the group does is irrelevant.

Judging by its lack of success in recovering any historic aircraft or artifact (which according to the group’s title WAS its function before being diverted into a unsolvable mystery) Its main function for years seems to have been a source of employment for its staff.

Now that they are near or past retirement age, the group can be allowed to fade away.

Just my opinion…