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Financial Report of the Texas Dental Association Looking Back and Moving Forward
Greetings, fellow TDA Members! It is my distinct honor and pleasure to carry on the baton from Dr Cody Graves, as your new secretary/treasurer. For those that I have not had the pleasure to meet, I am Dr Carmen Smith, general dentist from Dallas, Texas. I received my undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, followed by my DDS from Baylor College of Dentistry, and finally my MBA from Southern Methodist University. While all these credentials sound fancy, I am truly just a dentist who loves her profession and wants to do her part in supporting and advancing the field of dentistry.
Dr Carmen Smith Secretary-Treasurer, TDA
In 2022, the world was still turning the corner from the COVID pandemic and many economic events occurred, including but not limited to, inflation, rising interest rates, a very volatile job market, crash of crypto currency, war between Russia and Ukraine, and major legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act. Most industries, including dentistry, have received a direct or indirect affect from these occurrences. From a preliminary outlook (the annual audit has not occurred at the time of this article), the Texas Dental Association made some positive headway in the midst of all the economic downturn of 2022.
2022 in Review
• TDA had revenues over expenses of approximately $62,635. (Woo-Hoo)!
• TDA did not have an annual meeting, instead co-hosting SmileCon with the ADA and Greater Houston Dental Society. This joint venture brought $583,910 in gross revenue to TDA.
• Communications fell short of the budgeted revenues, due to loss in advertising dollars and an increase in postage, printing, and production.
• Continuing education programs—These are CE events sponsored by the TDA outside of our annual meeting. TDA Perks launched the TDA Concierge app, which generated revenue dollars; a regional CE meeting was planned for Texarkana; however, due to unforeseen circumstances, was cancelled. Planning immediately began for a regional meeting in 2023 for Lubbock.
• TDA Building Leases—Our revenue increased (due to increase in tenant rents) and expenses decreased.
• Operating—1) Dues exceeded budget expectation by 103% and 2021 actuals by 106%. 2) We received miscellaneous revenue from grants from the ADA for marketing campaigns, sponsorships through MCI (company that solicits advertising and sponsorships for TDA), final payment from FSI for Concierge development, and sponsorship from Perks to fund the Texas reception at the ADA HOD meeting. 3) We received payment from our for- profit arm (FSI) for administrative support of staff and equipment.
4) TDA received the full budgeted cash distribution of $275,000 from TDA Member Benefits, Ltd (MBL)—TDA is a limited partner.
• TDA non-budgeted contingency expenses are related to 1) relief assistance to Florida, Puerto Rico; 2) a contribution to Dr Craig Armstrong’s campaign for president-elect of the ADA; and 3) a contribution to the Massachusetts Ballot initiative.
• Central Office, Board of Directors, Councils and Committees expenses were all less than budgeted.
• The ADA expense was higher than budgeted, which again was offset by the sponsorships.
• The TDA House of Delegates expenses exceeded budget due to a venue change (no annual session at the convention center) and the associated expenses.
• Lastly concerning 2022, with the volatility of the stock markets, TDA saw less than a 1% unrealized loss of our long-term reserves.
The 2024 budget is presented below. This budget, as with all budgets, presented many challenges. TDA has had 1 annual meeting in the last 3 years. There are 2 new programs (Regional Meeting and Dentist Symposium) that are included in the budget with no data basis to establish a revenue projection. With that stated, here are some highlights for the 2024 budget…
• The TDA Meeting revenues (based on trends preceding COVID) is forecasted to exceed expenses. The TDA will be utilizing less meeting space which reduces costs (room, AV, etc).
• Continuing Education revenues forecasted to exceed expenses due to continued growth of the Concierge App, and the addition of revenue from a Regional Meeting and the Dentist Symposium.
• Communications still remains in a deficit as TDA Editor Dr Plemons and her team continue the transition that the task force has implemented.
• The TDA Building is status quo at the time of this article. As many may or may not know, the Texas Department of Transportation has plans of a project that will widen I-35, which may have effects on the TDA Building. Discussion and planning are still happening at this time.
• Our Dues revenue is based on a projection of 5,508 full-dues paying active members. This number takes into account a 10% attrition.
• TDA is forecasting $95,000 in general sponsorship revenue, and $75,000 in sponsorship revenue for the Texas reception for the ADA House of Delegates. The ADA reception expenses are expected to be fully covered by these sponsorships.
• Our affiliate administration revenues and MBL Partnership distribution is expected to slightly increase.
• The Central Office is expected to add an additional staff member to assist with the Annual Meeting and Continuing Education due to the addition of the new programs.
• Councils and Committees expenses are reduced mainly due to the fact of a non-legislative year.
• Finally, with the success of past Leadership Conferences, the Budget Committee decided to make this a line item on our budget. The expense is forecasted at $20,000 to be supported by budgeted miscellaneous sponsorship revenue.
Overall, the 2024 budget proposal is $5,730,930. With an emphasis on the development of new programming in an effort to encourage membership growth, the board, with thoughtful deliberation and intention, has voted on the presented budget with the recommendation of an $8 dues increase. The budget is balanced in accordance to TDA Bylaws without using methods of financing outside of expected revenues. The riders, which allow limitations to revisions of the budget, are also included. Any additional initiatives that are not included in this budget, will need to be funded from reserve funds, subject to Board approval.
A special thank you to the Budget Staff Members TDA Executive Director Linda Brady and Director of Finance
Kelly Doolittle for your guidance and direction in providing the necessary resources for developing the budget; the Budget Committee for recommending a budget that is forward thinking and operational; and to the Board of Directors for approving a budget for our members that will allow us to continue to grow and move forward through the good and challenging times.
