IABC no longer employs a CEO. The International Association of Business Communicators outsourced its executive leadership to Smithbucklin, an association management company, in 2020. Its revenue has halved since 2013. Its net assets are negative $207,555. The 990 filings tell the story of a professional association that quietly hollowed out.
The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) — the second-largest professional association for communications practitioners in the world, behind PRSA — does not employ a chief executive. Its most recent IRS Form 990 filing, for fiscal year 2024 (EIN: 03-4080669), lists Peter Finn as Executive Director — with the parenthetical "(Smithbucklin)". His reported compensation from IABC: $0. Every officer and key employee on the 2024 filing shows $0 in compensation from IABC.
That filing is not an anomaly. It is the fifth consecutive year of $0 executive compensation at IABC. The association outsourced its management function to Smithbucklin, a Chicago-based association management company, around 2020. Since then, IABC has reported no salaries, no executive compensation, and no employee wages on its Form 990. The organization that was founded in 1970 to serve business communicators is now a managed client of a firm that runs dozens of trade associations.
Revenue Fell 53% From 2012 to 2024
IABC's 990 filings from 2011 through 2024 show a revenue trajectory that explains everything:
- 2011 — $5,955,129
- 2012 — $6,187,959
- 2013 — $5,452,845
- 2014 — $4,713,269
- 2015 — $4,378,752
- 2016 — $3,860,494
- 2017 — $3,682,400
- 2018 — $3,980,674
- 2019 — $4,076,906
- 2020 — $2,763,458 (COVID year)
- 2021 — $2,406,715
- 2022 — $2,559,471
- 2023 — $2,935,557
- 2024 — $2,902,026
Revenue fell 53% from the 2012 peak of $6.2 million to the 2021 trough of $2.4 million. It has recovered modestly since — $2.9 million in 2024 — but remains roughly half of its early-2010s level. For context, PRSA's revenue has held steady at approximately $11 to $12 million across the same period.
Negative Net Assets for Six Consecutive Years
The decline in revenue is matched by a collapse in net assets:
- 2011 — $1,126,373 (positive)
- 2013 — $515,906
- 2015 — $14,747
- 2018 — $101,387
- 2019 — -$9,328 (first negative year)
- 2021 — -$525,387
- 2022 — -$508,090
- 2023 — -$118,916
- 2024 — -$207,555
IABC has been in negative net asset territory for six consecutive years. Total liabilities of $1,024,050 exceed total assets of $816,495. The organization is technically insolvent — it owes more than it owns. It continues to operate through program service revenue (~$2.4 million in 2024) and contributions ($362,071 in 2024).
Five Executive Directors in Twelve Years — Then Smithbucklin
Everything-PR Research reviewed IABC's Form 990 filings from 2013 through 2024. The executive director chair has turned over repeatedly, and the role itself has been structurally redefined twice.
Christopher Sorek — Executive Director (through 2013)
Sorek served as Executive Director through at least 2013. His compensation: $186,600 plus $11,593 in other compensation. The organization at the time had $5.5 million in revenue, $2.7 million in total assets, and 25+ employees drawing $1.6 million in total wages.
Ann Lazarus — Interim Executive Director (2014)
Lazarus served as Interim ED during the transition. Her 2014 compensation: $109,751.
Carlos Fulcher — CEO (2014–2016)
Fulcher was the first IABC leader to take the CEO title. His compensation ranged from $111,096 (2014, partial year) to $208,815 (2015) to $202,622 (2016, plus $24,000 in other compensation). Total across three years: approximately $522,533. IABC's revenue during Fulcher's tenure declined from $4.7 million to $3.9 million.
Stephanie Doute — Executive Director (2016–September 2019)
Doute had been IABC's Membership Director before stepping into the ED role. She previously served as Acting Executive Director during a 2016 transition. Her compensation as ED: $121,815 (2016 partial), $165,500 (2017), $169,373 (2018), $174,970 (2019 partial — departed in September). Total across four years: approximately $631,658. Doute is the last IABC executive to have received a salary from the organization.
Janet Rapp — Interim Executive Director (November 2019)
Rapp took the Interim ED title beginning November 2019. No compensation is disclosed for her on the 2019 filing.
Peter Finn — Executive Director via Smithbucklin (2020–present)
Finn is listed as Executive Director on every filing from 2020 through 2024 with the parenthetical "Smithbucklin." His reported compensation from IABC is $0 in every year. His compensation is paid by Smithbucklin, which is paid by IABC under a management services contract. That contract's value is not individually disclosed on the Form 990.
All Staff Are Now Smithbucklin Employees, Not IABC's
Smithbucklin is one of the largest association management companies in the United States, managing more than 200 trade and professional associations from its offices in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities. The company provides full executive management, event management, membership operations, and financial administration to client associations.
For IABC, the Smithbucklin transition meant:
- No direct employees on the 990 (from 2021 onward, "Other Salaries and Wages" is $0)
- No disclosed executive compensation
- All operational staff provided by Smithbucklin under a services contract
- The Executive Director is a Smithbucklin employee, not an IABC employee
The model is common among small and mid-tier trade associations. It is unusual for an organization of IABC's historical size and global footprint. IABC was once the second-largest communications association in the world, with 16,000 members across 80+ countries and 100+ chapters. Its Gold Quill Awards were the premier global competition for business communication. Its World Conference drew thousands of delegates annually.
Today, the organization operates on $2.9 million in revenue, carries negative net assets, and outsources its leadership to a third-party management company.
PRSA Pays Its CEO $455K. IABC Pays $0.
Everything-PR Research documented twelve years of PRSA CEO compensation in a companion piece. The contrast with IABC is sharp:
- PRSA CEO compensation (2024): $455,403 (Linda Thomas Brooks)
- IABC ED compensation (2024): $0 (outsourced to Smithbucklin)
- PRSA annual revenue: ~$11–$12 million
- IABC annual revenue: $2.9 million
- PRSA net assets: positive
- IABC net assets: -$207,555
- PRSA employees: ~40
- IABC employees: 0 (outsourced)
PRSA has maintained stable revenue, consistent CEO leadership, and a positive balance sheet across the same twelve-year window. IABC's membership, revenue, and organizational capacity have contracted materially. The two organizations serve overlapping but distinct professional populations — PRSA is U.S.-centric and PR-focused; IABC is global and internal/corporate communications-focused — but the financial trajectories have diverged sharply.
Before Smithbucklin: $2.2M in Staff Wages. Now: $0.
Before the outsourcing transition, IABC's 990s disclosed other staff compensation that reveals the scale of the organization at its larger state:
- Natasha Nicholson, Director of Content — present on every filing from 2013 through 2019. Compensation from $123,733 (2015) to $134,985 (2014). Nicholson was the longest-tenured disclosed employee across the pre-Smithbucklin era.
- Ron Hansen, Education Director — $107,571 (2015) to $114,231 (2016)
- Melissa Dark, Director of Communications — $125,320 (2014) to $127,512 (2015)
Total "Other Salaries and Wages" peaked at $2,242,063 in 2012. By 2020, the figure was $559,735. By 2021 and every year since, it has been $0.
Three Structural Findings From the 990s
Three structural findings.
First: IABC is technically insolvent and has been for six years. Negative net assets of -$207,555 in 2024 mean liabilities exceed assets. The organization continues to operate — it collects membership dues, hosts events, and awards Gold Quills — but it does so with no financial cushion and no employees on its own books.
Second: the outsourcing to Smithbucklin removed all executive compensation from public disclosure. When IABC employed its own staff, the 990 disclosed everything — ED salary, content director salary, total wages. Under the Smithbucklin model, all of that disappears into a management services contract. The public has no visibility into what Finn is paid to run IABC, or what Smithbucklin charges for the service. PRSA's 990 discloses every officer and key employee above $100,000. IABC's discloses none, because it has none.
Third: IABC's revenue has halved while the field it serves has grown. Corporate communications, internal communications, and employer branding have expanded as disciplines across the 2013–2024 period. The number of practitioners has grown. The function has grown. But IABC's ability to monetize that growth through membership dues and events has contracted by half. The field did not shrink. The association did.
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