Looking back through my older blogs, I see that the first time I reported on the finances of the NCBTMB was in 2010…fifteen years ago. Things have changed drastically since then. The FSMTB, established in 2005, rolled out the MBLEx in 2007, back when the National Certification Examinations (one in Therapeutic Massage, one in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, and the National Exam for State Licensing) were the choices for licensing in almost every regulated state. A few states had and continue to have their own licensing exams. The last NCBTMB exam intended for entry-level licensing purposes was given February 2015. The NCBTMB continues to offer voluntary certification exams. The organization has seen a lot of changes since then. I reported on their finances in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2019. Bear in mind that tax-exempt organizations are on a different filing schedule than the general public, so this blog, posted 09/13/2025, reflects the financial filing submitted on for the 2023 calendar year, or tax year beginning 03-01-2023 , and ending 02-29-2024. The actual form is posted on ProPublica. Filings of this and other exempt entities are usually listed there, as well as on Candid.
For my older blogs, I used Guidestar, but their page for exempt entities is now pointed to Candid.
ProPublica has filings from the NCBTMB dating back to 2007. For that fiscal year, the NCBTMB showed total revenue of $8,655,003.
For the 2023 filing, total revenue is $1,281,328. Part of their revenue for 2023 was $174,200 in grants, reportedly from AMTA. They weren’t getting grants in 2007, but they didn’t need any. Their operating expenses in 2007 were $8,747,653. Their operating expenses in 2023 were $1,131,271.
To make a long story short, they’re not what they once were. The MBLEx changed the whole landscape of massage licensing exams. But they’ve also cut their expenses to reflect that. The current CEO, Shelly Johnson, received a salary of $134, 327 plus an estimated $7,565 in other compensation in 2023.
In comparison, in 2007, then- Executive Director Chris Laxton was paid a salary of $191,962 plus $1,769 in benefits and $7,680 for an expense account.
The telling difference is the compensation that was paid to board members in 2007 compared to what they are paid now. I know several of the 2023 board members, including Dolly Wallace, the then-chairperson (Christopher Deery is now the Chair). Dolly was paid the magnanimous total of $4,200 for leading the board, and the filing says she worked 4 hours per week (I call BS on that, having served on public boards before). Other board members for the 2023 filing were paid between $1350-$1800. It’s basically a volunteer job. Nobody’s getting rich…but they used to.
In 2007, Board Chair Donna Feeley was paid over $100,000 for supposedly working 10 hours a week. Let it be said that Feeley and then-Executive Director Chris Laxton came under extreme fire from former members of the board, who raised numerous concerns about their manhandling NCBTMB matters instead of having board discussions and votes. One being that they decided to change Laxton’s title to CEO instead of Executive Director without any consultation with the board members. You can see the letter written by concerned former board members here.
I’ve written about Feeley before. She is deceased and not here to defend herself, but she notoriously held a board meeting in Hawaii and was known for taking limos and going to 5-star restaurants at NCBTMB expense. None of the present board members would do any such thing. The NCBTMB also spent over $925,000 on legal expenses during 2007, reportedly for filing lawsuits against states who chose to use the MBLEx. We see how that turned out.
The NCBTMB is a different animal than it used to be. The massage regulatory landscape evolved and so did they. They have a great CEO and great board members, and are fulfilling their now-mission of providing voluntary certification instead of licensing. No one is required by any state to get Board Certification. People do it because they want to. The NCBTMB has been around since 1992, and they aren’t going anywhere. They’re rolling with the changes.