The American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association, Inc.  Research  Education  Patient Advocacy Financial Report July 1, 2000 thru June 30, 2001

In less than a decade, AFSA has grown from a small grassroots research funding charity that began in 1993 to what is now the nation's sole organization focused on seeding investigators worldwide on FMS/CFS and pain related studies. For the past two years, AFSA-funded projects have dominated major scientific events on the syndrome (see our August 2001 Update publication for more details) and even more exciting is the fact that the groundbreaking findings by AFSA-funded research are also getting published in major medical journals. This is the arena most highly regarded as the source of valid information and education for practicing physicians and researchers alike. For example, Dr. Wallace's project on the role of cytokines appeared in the July issue of Rheumatology (click here for a brief overview of the published journal article). The first half of Dr. Jasmin's project, which evaluates the ability of substance P and noradrenaline to boost the effects of opioids to tame the painful symptoms of FMS/CFS, appeared in the January 2001 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The first portion of Dr. Marchand's project, comparing the ability of the Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Control (DNIC) system to reduce pain in FMS patients, low back pain patients and healthy controls, just appeared in the March 2002 issue of PAIN.

Although AFSA's success in achieving its research funding mission is beginning to have a substantial impact on the way FMS is perceived by the research community, the dominating force behind AFSA has remained constant. The funds raised through AFSA are still derived almost exclusively from individual patient contributions. We did receive corporate sponsorship for the AFSA 2000 Seminar (see details below), but the heart of AFSA relies almost exclusively on donations from patients and their loved ones. During its eighth year, ending June 30, 2001, AFSA received $114,688 in public donations, sales, education seminar fees, and interest. This brings our cumulative revenue and support up to $927,864.

For the past three years we have received a total of nearly $380,000 with virtually no fundraising costs. In addition, we are an all-volunteer organization and our overhead office expenses are donated freely to us as in-kind services. What this means is that most of our contributions have come from previous donors and people receiving our organization's activity newsletter, the AFSA Update. This speaks volumes about the commitment of our patrons and it has helped ensure that a tremendously high percentage of the money donated to AFSA (over 94%) goes toward our program services (research grants and educational activities).

After the fiscal year ended, two additional research grants were awarded. The paperwork for the 21st project to Dr. Jasmin was in the works as the year came to a close and the 22nd project to Laurence Bradley, Ph.D., was made in January of 2002. The details of Jasmin's award are provided in the August 2001 Update, while Bradley's award was just mailed out in the January 2002 Update (and will soon be posted on the Web site as well). The point is, AFSA's financial reserves are the lowest that they have been in over three years. We have never awarded money to an unworthy project just because we had the money in the bank to do so with carryover funds from the previous year. We felt strongly that we would eventually receive those well-thought-out applications that we were yearning for ... which is exactly what happened with the funding of the last few projects! Now we are in a position where we need to rebuild our reserves, but our philosophy will remain the same: we will only fund project proposals that are of superior quality and highly patient-relevant.

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BALANCE SHEETS - June 30, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001
				8th Year	7th Year	6th Year	5th Year	4th Year	3rd Year	2nd Year	1st Year
				00-01	99-00	98-99	97-98	96-97	95-96	94-95	93-94
ASSETS
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Unrestricted				114,139	134,671	124,855	136,268	67,712	10,136	4,431	11,483
Restricted				0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prepaid expenses - postage meter				549	399	948	597	0	0	765	286
Inventory				0	0	0	0	0	1,949
TOTAL CASH				114,688	135,070	125,803	136,865	67,712	12,085	5,196	11,769
TOTAL ASSETS				114,688	135,070	125,803	136,865	67,712	12,085	5,196	11,769
LIABILITIES AND FUND BALANCES
TOTAL LIABILITIES				0	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
FUND BALANCES
Unrestricted				114,688	135,070	125,803	136,865	67,712	12,085	5,173	11,769
Restricted				0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL FUND BALANCES				114,688	135,070	125,803	136,865	67,712	12,085	5,173	11,769
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND FUND BALANCES				114,688	135,070	125,803	136,865	67,712	12,085	5,196	11,769

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STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND SUPPORT, EXPENSES AND CHANGES IN FUND BALANCES Year-end June 30, 2001 (with comparable totals for 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1994)
					8th Year	7th Year	6th Year	5th Year	4th Year	3rd Year	2nd Year	1st Year
					00-01	99-00	98-99	97-98	96-97	95-96	94-95	93-94
REVENUE AND SUPPORT
Contributions					102,307	81,495	109,783	235,522	142,519	97,520	70,623	18,115
Note cards					824	740	2,019	12,436	13,174	12,195	--	--
AFSA 2000 Seminar Fees					13,370	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
AFSA 2000 Transcripts					1,450	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Abstracts & Calendars					0	0	59	895	720	3,556	6,165	--
Interest and Other					2,620	3,218	2,407	15	0	0	0	0
TOTAL REVENUE & SUPPORT					120,571	85,453	114,268	248,868	156,413	113,271	76,788	18,115
EXPENSES
PROGRAM SERVICES
Research					84,300	49,407	109,708	153,225	81,957	89,704	59,420	0
Educational Activities
AFSA Update					4,292	20,130	10,914	7,923	7,547	13,326	16,259	4,500
AFSA 2000 Seminar					45,623	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
SUPPORT SERVICES
Management and General					7,506	6,263	4,659	5,598	4,490	1,671	3,029	872
Development					20	385	0	12,969	6,788	1,662	4,676	974
TOTAL EXPENSES					141,741	76,185	125,281	179,715	100,782	106,363	83,384	6,346
EXCESS (DEFICIENCY) OF SUPPORT AND REVENUE OVER EXPENSES					(27,053)	9,268	(11,012)	69,153	55,631	6,908	(6,596)	11,769
FUND BALANCES
Beginning of Year					135,120	125,852	136,865	67,712	12,081	5,173	11,769	0
End of Year					108,067	135,120	125,852	136,865	67,712	12,081	5,173	11,769

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Six hundred and fifty-eight people donated $77,119 to AFSA during the fiscal year. Of this, $16,000 was in the form of unrestricted educational grants received to help fund the AFSA 2000 conference. The average donation was $117 per person, not up substantially from the $110 per person we received last year. From the pie-chart below, it is clear that we have more donors contributing larger amounts. Twenty-eight percent of our support came from contributions over $1000. Fifteen percent came from contributions between $100 and $500. Memorials and honorariums accounted for eleven percent of our support, while the AFSA 2000 conference contributed another twelve percent.

AFSA has made tremendous progress! Yet today, AFSA's reserves are the lowest that they have been in more than three years. After we closed out the year, we funded two additional projects totaling $84,974. Two AFSA Updates were also published in August 2001 and January 2002, but they generated much lower revenues than in years past.

Notes To Financial Statements

Note 1 - Accounting Policies

Description of operations

The American FMS Association, Inc. (AFSA) is a non-profit corporation whose primary mission is to encourage scientific research toward finding the cause of and cure for fibromyalgia syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as to promote public awareness and understanding of these conditions. AFSA accomplishes this mission by funding exceptional research that is focused on the physiology and treatment of these illnesses. It also educates the public through dissemination of free information packets and newsletters. The majority of AFSA's revenue is derived from contributions from the public and from the sale of informational items.

Inventories

Inventories, which consist of informational note cards and AFSA 2000 syllabuses, are recorded at cost on a first-in, first-out basis.

Donated services

AFSA receives donated services for certain functions. However, there is no objective basis for measuring the value of donated services. Therefore, no amounts have been included in the accompanying financial statements for these services.

Revenue recognition

Contributors, though often called members, do not receive any goods or services for their contributions that are not available to the general public at no charge. Therefore, AFSA recognizes all contributions as revenues when received, except for pledges. Pledges are recognized as revenue at the time that monies associated with the pledge are received. Contributions and sales are considered to be available for unrestricted use unless specified by the contributor.

Research grants

AFSA's primary goal is to fund medical research projects on fibromylagia syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and related areas. Each year, AFSA attempts to maximize the amount it awards in grants of this type. To ensure that the most worthy and promising research projects are funded, AFSA utilizes a Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) to review and grade grant applications received by AFSA. The MAC is comprised of many of the most noted researchers in the area of fibromylagia and chronic fatigue syndrome research. In addition to the MAC, AFSA enlists the advice of other experts in the field on an as-needed, voluntary basis. Grades received from the MAC are the primary tool used by the Executive Committee in deciding which projects should be funded. However, the Executive Committee is ultimately responsible for making all funding decisions.

Conflict of interest

All members of AFSA's Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Committee are governed by a conflict-of-interest policy. This policy precludes members from voting on motions with respect to which he/she may have a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest is deemed to exist if the member would directly benefit, personally or professionally, from a motion that has been made.

Note 2 - Tax Status

AFSA is a not-for-profit voluntary health organization, exempt from federal and state income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and Sections 23701d of the General Statutes of California. AFSA's advanced ruling period under Federal law ended June 30, 1998. AFSA has now received its final approval as a publicly supported organization described in sections 170(b)(1)(A)(1) or in section 509(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.

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