Annual Report Introduction
During this fiscal year, RID has pushed to streamline our programs and practices, enabling us to build momentum as we pedal toward our strategic goals. We are working as “Spokes of the Same Wheel” and invite you to be a part of this effort and see the strides we have made so far.
There has been a lot of transformation within RID over the past few years. This has meant rebuilding our foundation, re-examining our practices, and reprioritizing HQ staff efforts and time. This process is ongoing, and we are now starting to see the mile markers of success.
In this report, our Director of Finance Jennifer Apple emphasizes our progress in coming ever closer to a zero-based budget. This need was first identified three years ago, and her diligence in attending to expenses while also encouraging investment activities and opportunities for revenue has led us in a positive direction.
Some staffing adjustments at Headquarters resulted in Ryan Butts taking over our Standards and Practices department, which includes the mainstay program of RID – certification. Certification has three wheels (certification, professional development, and the Ethical Practices System), and a lot of energy this year has gone toward professional development and the EPS. We look forward to steady headway in the year (and years) to come.
Director Neal Tucker has overseen the Member Services and Government Affairs Program. This is the “member-touch” department of RID. He has instituted a number of efforts to improve the experience of members within the association.
Communications, as the hub, has continued in its quest to provide high-quality engagement with the membership and with the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind communities that RID serves. VIEWS continues to be our flagship publication and with each issue we strive to represent the diversity of perspectives and expertise in this great field.
We hope that you enjoy delving into this Annual Report, which includes Board member activity reports, detailed narratives explaining the progress of each department, an interactive infographic with the most relevant data from our programs, and a full financial report from Fiscal Year 2018. Click on the department icons to see specific information from each program, or scroll down to see the entire infographic at a glance. This Annual Report is not only a snapshot of RID’s performance, but also a track record of the progress of the interpreting profession as a whole. We’re invigorated by the ambitious pace set by CASLI, and by collaborative work with our sister organizations. Thank you all for joining us in this far-reaching effort. #weareRID
Board of Directors
Activities and involvement of the Board of Directors for FY2018
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Member at Large
Deaf Member at Large
Region I Representative
Region II Representative
Region III Representative
Region IV Representative
Region V Representative
President
Melvin Walker, M.Ed., CRC, CI and CT, NAD V
- Activities
- Ongoing Meetings
- Monthly online Board Meetings
- Monthly meetings with the Deputy Director who transitioned to the Chief Operating Officer
- Monthly meetings with CASLI Leadership
- Ongoing meetings with NAD President: Melissa Draganac-Hawk
- Miscellaneous Board Member Activities
- July 2017 National Conference in Salt Lake City
- November 2017 Board face-to-face meeting at Headquarters
- Strategic Planning stemming from the 2017 Leadership Conference
- Board search and hire of the Chief Executive Officer
- Ongoing Meetings
Vice President
Sandra Maloney, M.A., CI and CT, SC:L
- 2017 RID LEAD Together Conference (Erica West Oyedele)
- Co-facilitated a panel discussion with Deaf Member-at-Large, Ritchie Bryant, “Navigating RID and the Profession as a Minority Practitioner”
- Participated in panel discussion, “Navigating Leadership Within RID at the State, Regional, and National Level”
- Presided over Part 2 of the Business Meeting
- Conferences/Events
- Attended NAD 2017 Gala
- Attended DHHCAN Meeting at Gallaudet University
- Attended Discovering Deaf Worlds Gala
- Co-Presented Keynote at NJRID/NJAD Conference with NAD VP, Joshua Beckman
- Attended MIRID Membership Meeting
- Attended StreetLeverage Live, New Jersey
- Committees
- Finance Committee Liaison
- Projects
- Participated in Strategic Plan subcommittee to correlate data from surveys, 2017 conference, and the Board meeting; worked with subcommittee to produce final goals and objectives.
- Worked with stakeholders and Headquarter staff to launch the PDIP
- Met several times to develop KSAs for legal interpreting with the Legal Interpreting Workgroup through Project Climb/State of California
- Meetings
- Attended monthly Board Meetings and biannual face-to-face Board meetings
- Meetings as needed/requested with CASLI Board, HQ Staff, AC Leaders, members
Treasurer
Billieanne McLellan, CI and CT, NIC, Ed: K-12 (Interim Treasurer March-August 2018)
- Board Activities
- Attended online Board meetings & reviewed monthly minutes
- Attended face-to-face meeting and CEO interviews in April
- Activities as Treasurer
- Attended monthly meetings with RID Chief Operating Officer & Director of Finance; presented finance reports to the Board
- Reviewed and presented proposed FY19 Operating Budget with Director of Finance, COO and Board Subcommittee; presented tax form 990 for review
- Reviewed and approved Board travel expenses and Region requests for funds
- Committee Involvement
- Board Co-Chair of Finance Committee (with VP Maloney)
- Chair of Board Budget Subcommittee
Secretary
Joshua Pennise, M.A., CI and CT, NIC Advanced
- Activities
- Participated in biannual face-to-face Board meetings
- Attended monthly online Board meetings
- Prepared minutes for 11 open & closed sessions in Board meetings
- Events
- Attended NAD biennial conference/RID Region I conference in Hartford, CT
- Attended RID Region IV conference in Albuquerque, NM and participated in board forum
- Attended RID Region V conference in Portland, OR and co-taught leadership training
- Committees
- Served as liaison to Professional Development Committee
- Participated in monthly meetings of CASLI-RID board working group
- Served as temporary liaison to the Audit Committee
- Chaired CEO search committee
Member-at-Large
Dr. Len Roberson, Ph.D., CI and CT, SC:L
- Activities
- Attended monthly RID Board of Directors Meetings and biannual Face to Face meetings
- Served as liaison to the EPS Task Force and met monthly
- Served on the communications committee
- Served on Strategic Plan development team
- Presentations
- “LEADing from Within, LEADing for Tomorrow” – Keynote Address at Region IV Conference on July 20, 2018
Deaf Member-at-Large
Branton Stewart, CDI, CLIP-R
- Board Activities
- Attended monthly Board of Directors Meetings and biannual F2F meetings
- NAD Gala
- Conferences
- 2017 Council de Manos in Los Angeles, CA
- National Association for the Deaf in Hartford, CT
- RID Region V in Vancouver, WA
- Committees
- Transferred from National Task Force Deaf-Blind Interpreter to RID Committees
- Interview Committee for RID CEO position (December ’17-April ’18)
- Communicated with various councils using Glide
- Deaf Advisory Council
- Diversity Council
- Council of Elders
- Deaf Caucus
Region I Representative
LaTanya Jones, M.S.M., NIC
This report reflects activities from January 2018 to June 2018.
- Activities
- Attended all monthly meetings of the Board of Directors
- Attended RID Board of Directors face 2 face meeting
- Conducted regularly scheduled meeting with the Region 1 Affiliate Chapter Presidents and as needed meetings with Region 1 members
- Conferences
- Participated in on the RID Region 1 Conference Planning Committee
- Attended StreetLeverage Live 2018 in Philadelphia, PA
Region II Representative
Brenda Sellers, CI and CT, NIC
- Board Activities
- RID National Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Attended RID CEO Search Committee Meetings and Interviews
- Attended all monthly meetings of the Board of Directors
- Attended RID Board of Directors face 2 face meetings
- Attended RID Region II Conference Planning Meetings
- Attended RID Region II Presidents Council Meetings
- Attended AC Board meetings when needed
- Announced decision to cancel RID Region II Conference
- Events
- October 6 -7, 2017: TN RID Member Appreciation Conference and Meeting, Murfreesboro, TN
- April 14 & 15, 2018: GARID Member Appreciation Weekend / Workshops (participant)
- May 19, 2018: GARID sponsored Workshop – Atlanta, GA (participant)
- June 21 – 23, 2018: North Carolina RID Annual State Conference, Charlotte, NC
Region III Representative
Byron Behm, NIC, NAD V
- Board Activities
- Acted as a representative for Affiliate Chapters in Region 3 and members to the board of directors
- Representative Duties
- Attended monthly online Board meetings and biannual F2F meetings
- Attended Region 3 Presidents’ council monthly meetings
- Worked with ACs to maintain or reinstate chapter in good standing status
- Provided support to ACs for best practice compliance
- Met with Region 3 Presidents’ Councils to disseminate accurate information
- Maintained a network of support for Affiliate Chapter Presidents
- Participated in conference planning meetings/activities with WisRID
- Financial Standing: As of the end of FY 2018, R3 has $1,102.64 in the checking account.
Region IV Representative
Sonja Smith, M.A., NIC
- Board Activities
- Attended monthly online board meetings and biannual F2F meetings
- Attended RIV Presidents’ Council meetings
- AC One on One meetings
- Provided information to ACs that normally would have been available in the AC handbook
- Worked with ACs to maintain or reinstate chapter in good standing status
- Discussed and shared information about IRS 501(c)3 status maintenance
- Developed annual submission process to ensure full compliance
- Provided support to ACs for best practice compliance
- LRID- Department of Corrections
- ISRID-Emergency Management
- Met with RIV Presidents’ Councils to disseminate accurate information
- Provided trainings to various ACs on request
- Ethics workshop
- Regional updates
- Best practices
- Completed first draft of updated AC handbook
- Collaborated with R5Rep, R2Rep, VP
- Liaison Activities: Code of Professional Conduct Review TaskForce
- RIV Conference Activities: Participated in conference planning meetings/activities
- RIV Conference Planning meetings
- NMRID was the host affiliate chapter
- Projected profit of approximately $10,000 to be split- 70% to the host AC, and 30% split evenly among the MOU signing ACs and RIV.
- Hosted RIV Presidents’ Luncheon with RID CEO Trapani
- Emceed large plenary events
- Opening session
- RIV Member Meeting
- Banquet/Awards
- Financial Standing
- As of the end of FY 2018, RIV has $3,931.58 in the checking account. This includes a deposit of $3,924.12 (profits from the 2016 RIV conference), and a debit of $363 (reimbursements for conference costs for the RIV Representative).
Region V Representative
Mish Ktejik, M.A., NIC, SC:L
- Board Activities
- Worked with ACs to maintain or reinstate chapter in good standing status
- Contributed to the updated AC handbook draft
- RV Conference Activities
- ORID and WSRID co-hosted
- Projected profit of approximately $30,000 to be split in the following way: $3,000 to the RID Cares recipient (D.E.A.F. for WSD), 35% to the hosting chapters (60/40 split), 40% to R5 fund to be earmarked for R5R travel and resources to support R5 ACs, and 25% to be divided among the remaining non-hosting ACs (division based on involvement as R5 Conference committee chairs)
- Served on the Conference Chair Committee along with ORID and WSRID presidents
- Hosted RIV Presidents’ Luncheon with RID CEO Trapani and President Walker
- Co-hosted the RID Leadership workshop
- ORID and WSRID co-hosted
- Finances
- As of the end of FY 2018, RV has $20,976.64 in the checking account. This does not include the initial $10,000 conference seed money yet to be reimbursed or the R5’s share of the conference profit.
- Meetings
- Monthly online Board of Directors meetings and biannual F2F meetings
- RV Presidents’ Council meetings
- RV Conference Chair Committee meetings
- Met with RVPC bimonthly
Finance and Operations
Click here to view full financial report
Overview
RID’s annual financial report to the membership provides a big-picture overview of how the organization fared financially in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The following tables and charts are intended to provide you with information and analysis needed to understand the organization’s performance within each program area for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018.
As always, audited financial results are reproduced in this report. The annual external audit was carried out for FY2018 in the fall and winter of 2018. The auditors have returned an unqualified opinion on the presentation of financials for both RID and CASLI, which is to say the auditors believe both organizations have properly presented and stated their financial performance on their respective books according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). All report data are presented as both consolidated (RID & CASLI) and independent organizational financial performance reports within this annual report.
Sustaining Momentum – Concrete Steps
In FY2018, RID continued making headway with continued dynamic discussion regarding the organization’s financial resources. The appointment of a full complement of non-board members for RID’s Finance Committee, which began work in December of 2017, aims to ensure transparent communication with the Board of Directors about the organization’s finances and make them aware of any areas of risk.
Throughout the year, unanticipated program needs and opportunities often present themselves, necessitating decision-making in accordance with sustainable financial management. RID’s Director of Finance and Operations worked closely with HQ Directors and the Board Treasurer to combat overspending patterns. These patterns were the impetus for the zero-based budget approach, in which spending requests are considered first and foremost in relation to their impact on the organization’s approved annual operating budget. As a result, a feedback loop of accountability was instituted wherein we may adjust spending and budgeted amounts dynamically when necessary, without impacting the overall budgeted profitability.
Looking ahead to FY2019 and beyond, the finance team will seek to automate and modernize accounting, payroll, and financial reporting processes as much as possible, decreasing inefficiencies and delays. Foundational groundwork for this will be laid in the upcoming FY2020 budget season.
Operations: Maintaining Our Assets
In FY2018, Operations dedicated resources towards renovating three aspects of the RID office building interior: lighting, carpeting, and office paint colors. RID’s lighting system within the office was upgraded and replaced with energy-efficient LED light fixtures. Aging carpeting, installed in 2007, was replaced throughout the building with modern carpet tiles that allow for spot maintenance in the event of wear and tear. The paint scheme, also instituted in 2007, was updated to lighter and cooler colors to increase productivity and overall office mood.
Financial Performance Highlights and Lowlights
- For FY2018, RID had a net operating surplus of $255,039, the third straight year of positive financial performance.
- Total revenues sustained a modest rebound in FY2018. Contributing factors included revenue from the 2017 Biennial National Conference in Salt Lake City, bookstore sales growth at Amazon.com, recovering advertising revenue streams for VIEWS, and the enforcement of consequences for failing to maintain membership in good standing as part of certification.
- Dues revenue continued a downward trend, declining in FY2018 by $173,798 (12%) from the prior year. This decline is primarily the result of decreasing the dues portion of the membership rate for Associate and Certified members by 9.15%.
- Certification revenue nearly doubled (92% increase), the result of enforcing Certified Member renewal deadlines as stated in the ByLaws, and an increase in the annual certification fee from $6 to $10, which was offset with the decrease in assessed membership dues.
- Education revenue increased 10% after the introduction of the Law Enforcement Independent Study Guide, which supplemented the RID Press text by Tara Potterveld with a CEU-earning component. Additionally, the CEM fee for Associate and Certified members was increased, offset by a reduction in membership dues.
- The 2017 Biennial National Conference, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, recorded revenues of $186,928 and expenses of $252,887, resulting in a loss of $65,959 for the event.
- The total financial commitment from RID to CASLI in FY2018 amounted to $216,994. This covered the cost of CASLI staff salaries, benefits, and office space, as well as merchant fees, office supplies, and the website. CASLI continues to work towards a sustainable future. In FY2018, CASLI’s net operating profit came to $292,227, which is being reinvested in the next generation exam development process currently underway.
- RID VIEWS saw modest financial improvement for FY 2018. Advertising revenue recovered with a 149% increase year over year. Investment in staff training and the establishment of a monetized job advertising platform further contributed to the upward trend for VIEWs.
- RID Press saw a net loss of $43,758. Much of this is attributed to the aging portfolio of bookstore titles and the resulting saturation of the market, with a lack of revised and updated editions of existing works to offer. RID Press recognizes these issues and is aiming to leverage resources in coming years to publish new and relevant works in the interpreting field, contracting with both fresh and favorite authors alike. It is worth noting that the planned operational improvements for RID Press noted in last year’s annual report, including a revamped online store and ordering process, a new interactive catalog, and re-imagined discount policies and shipping methods/rates, were not able to move forward in FY2018. These projects have again been prioritized for FY2019 and FY2020 as time and resources allow.
- Donation support for RID suffered a mild setback, as a few pledges of support from the Legacy Fund Campaign had to be written off. The total amount written off and charged to bad debt expense was $5,333.
Graphs: The Numbers Tell the Story
Please take some time to explore the graphs depicting the breakdown of program revenues and expenses for FY2018 and see how the organization’s financial position has changed, the result of fluctuations in RID’s assets and liabilities.
The revenue trend chart gives a visual representation of how dues and fees collected for RID’s flagship programs have trended over the past several fiscal years alongside the overall revenue trendline (see full financial report). A similar chart is provided to graphically show the expense trends for programs and management categories against the overall expense trendline (see full financial report). Some revenue and expenses are steady, while other sources are variable. Below, revenues are broken down by source in one pie chart, while another chart shows the proportion of each program’s expenses to the whole.
Finally, the program expense chart is another way to gauge how RID spends its resources. Management and general expenses include overhead costs, such as liability insurance, staff training, computers, utilities, merchant fees, and our member database. Overhead is necessary to produce accurate financial statements, provide quality services, maintain safe facilities, and cover the costs of fundraising. RID spent 26¢ per $1.00 collected on management and overhead expenses during FY2018.
Click here to view full financial report
Standards and Practices
While reviewing the data for the Standards and Practices department, keep in mind that this year turned out to be one of transition. With new leadership and changing priorities of the association, the department itself was in a state of transition. We began to identify systems of inefficiencies and devise a plan to address those items. We reviewed the core duties of each department and identified ways we could save time and resources and improve the member experience. Some of these improvements came in the form of changing internal processes: instituting ways to staff time, updating a form for clarity, or collecting more data to better serve. Other initiatives were more outward facing, one of which was launching Sponsor Connect. This is a publication dedicated to RID-approved sponsors and improving the way RID HQ communicates with them. To date we have released three (3) issues and have plans to continue this quarterly.
While some initiatives were able to be implemented this year, others have been reprioritized to be furthered in the coming year. For example, our Ethical Practice System identified the need for additional mediators to address the backlog of cases we are facing. Resources were allocated to this initiative and in the upcoming year, we will have a mediation training to begin the process of onboarding new mediators. The Professional Development department began bringing non-dues revenue into RID by hosting online webinars. This year we hosted three (3) successful webinars. We have plans to continue offering webinars that are relevant and timely to the interpreting profession. FY18 also saw an increase in the annual certification fee from $6 to $10, which was offset with the decrease in assessed membership dues. This fee covers the cost of providing certifying services to members via the various pathways one can take to achieve certification, setting certification standards, and defending these standards. In 2019, we will continue to focus on improving our current certification systems and ensuring efficient use of our current resources. We aim to streamline our processes in respect to credentialing, following industry standards. We thank you for your continued support of RID and look forward to continuing the mission and vision of the association.
Member Services and Government Affairs
Whether you’re new to RID, or a long-time member, it is certain you will engage with Member Services! During FY18, the Member Services and Government Affairs programs were combined into one department, responsible for supporting the needs of the membership in accordance with the association’s mission. This includes maintaining the registry database, providing daily customer service to stakeholders, researching, improving, and implementing member benefits, representing RID at federal and state levels, and more! RID recognizes that the work we do cannot be accomplished without our volunteers. A main priority of this department is the support of the Affiliate Chapters and Member Sections within the volunteer leadership structure.
Keeping in line with our goals from prior fiscal years regarding the streamlining of processes and procedures, we placed a significant focus on our membership renewal season which began April 1, 2018. If a member had not renewed prior to June 30, 2018, they should have received no fewer than eight separate communications about renewal. These efforts resulted in a significant reduction in members who renewed their membership after June 30.
Additionally, the Golden 100/Silver 200 fundraising campaign closed. Between 2016 and 2018, this campaign raised approximately $179,000 to be allocated for CDI exam development. Our thanks goes out to members who participated! We are continuing to work toward enhanced member benefits and look forward to some exciting developments slated for next year!
Our Government Affairs staff was hard at work representing RID in numerous organizations including the Disability Advisory Committee at the Federal Communications Commission, the National Emergency Number Association, as well as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN). RID is made strong by our members – if you, at any time, come across information which may impact the profession or community at a local, state, or federal level, please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know! After all, #WeAreRID!
*The below breakdown of our entire membership includes portions which have been exported from members’ profiles where the fields were self-identified. To obtain a better, overall, picture of our membership, please update your member profiles! You may look forward to increased demographic areas in the future.
Communications and Outreach
The Communications Department at RID is the hub of all outbound communications between the Board, Headquarters staff, and the membership. Every message needs to be examined to determine who it is coming from, who is the intended audience, and what channels are best suited for its distribution. We handle videos, email blasts, social media posts, individual emails, website maintenance and updates, PDF creations, and the quarterly VIEWS magazine.
FY18 has marked a year of evolution for the Communications department. The year began with the immersion of three new staff into the department shortly before the national conference in Salt Lake City. We provided coverage of the conference through Daily VIEWS blasts to the membership and collected historical content for our archives. Following the conference, we focused on instituting a social media policy for the organization’s multiple platforms, and redesigning the website homepage to improve user experience and engagement. Additionally, we dedicated resources to support the drafting of strategic recommendations collected from the national conference and the construction of the 2019-2021 RID strategic plan. From surveys collected post-conference, we were well-prepared to advise strategic communications and conference support during preparation for the regional conferences at the beginning of FY19.
One of the highlights of this past year has been transformation of VIEWS, which is still the world’s only quarterly bilingual & bimodal publication, with all articles being published in both ASL and English. We are committed to honoring the 2015 conference motion which instituted VIEWS as a bilingual publication. This has had a great impact on staff resources and time, as well as the publication medium for VIEWS. By working with an outside design consultant, we were able to completely re-design the magazine, making it fresh and exciting, integrating our ASL component while utilizing a modern online platform. We conducted a comprehensive survey about VIEWS distribution which alerted us to new possibilities for engaging the membership with the publication.
The Communications Department has continually focused on expanding our outreach initiative, which can be seen in the increase of social media followers (especially Instagram!) and VIEWS and website viewers. More of our content is online than ever before, and we are providing more direct engagement with members online by involving ourselves with membership groups and providing a direct feedback channel for their discussions and questions. The year ahead looks promising; we will continue to support the efforts of the various departments. We are looking for more, and better, ways to engage with the membership and the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind communities that we serve.
CASLI
We are grateful to CASLI for providing this data to be published along with ours in this Annual Report. We encourage you to explore their website at www.casli.org for more information and periodic updates.
