World Meeting Nonprofit Raised $25.6 Million

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A nonprofit formed for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia last year raised some $25.6 million and had a balance of $17 million just three months before the two day September visit of Pope Francis.
A tax return for the World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 shows contributions to the organization ranged from $5,000 to $5 million. The return lists the amounts of individual donations, but not the names of donors.
The week long World Meeting in Philadelphia was the eighth such event. They are held every three years in different countries.
The return was released by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in response to a written request. It was filed and accepted by the IRS, according to archdiocese spokesman Kenneth Gavin.
The May filing shows the organization requested and was granted two three month extensions from the original filing deadline
Though the organization, which was incorporated in 2012, contends it is exempt from even filing a tax return because of its funding sources and its affiliation with the National Conference of Bishops, the return states that it chose to do so voluntarily.
"However, since the World Meeting of Families and the papal visit occurred in the Fall of 2015, WMOF (World Meeting of Families) is voluntarily submitting a form 990 (nonprofit tax return) for the year ending June 30, 2015 to document these celebratory events," the filing states.
According to the return the $25.6 million came from over 130 individual contributions, five of them of $1 million or more.
The return also states that over half of its financial support comes from "internal church sources as opposed to the public."
The return lists total expenses as of June 30 of just under $8.5 million but few details of the expenditures were included.
The top paid staffer was executive director Donna Farrell who drew salary and benefits of $175,648 while Senior Director of Events Jack O'Brien had salary and benefits totaling $168,364.
The next highest paid staffer was Thomas Duggan with $99,142 in salary and $15,767 in additional benefits.
Overall the return lists salaries totaling $1.5 million with "other expenses" reaching just shy of $8.5 million. It lists $3.8 million in liabilities.
Some city officials expressed surprise when they learned late last year that taxpayers would have to chip in some $8 million of a $17 million total cost for city expenses related to the world meeting.
Though it was not listed on the return, the World Meeting was committed to providing some $8.6 million to reimburse the city for expenses, such as police overtime.
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