(Bloomberg News) More than 20 nonprofit groups, from New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, paid top executives more than $1 million a year in 2010 and 2011, the Chronicle of Philanthropy found.
The tally, an increase from 15 such pay packages in the previous study, showed chief executive officers or other leaders at 23 nonprofit charities and foundations had taxable compensation exceeding $1 million, the Chronicle said in a study to be released today.
"By far the most comments we get have to do with CEO salaries and a general outrage and shock at some of the salaries that they see," said Ken Berger, president of the nonprofit watchdog group Charity Navigator. "There are even donors shocked at the notion of a six-figure salary."
As protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street have brought more focus on the richest 1 percent of Americans, high pay for nonprofit executives has prompted New York and other states to suggest limits on compensation. Nonprofit watchers such as Berger say it may also prompt additional U.S. oversight or public policy changes for the $2.5 trillion industry.
"To assume that you're going to become a millionaire or a multimillionaire, running a public charity that's supposed to provide a public benefit, is just absurd as far as we're concerned," Berger said.
Top executives at the largest U.S. charities and foundations received a median pay increase of 3.8 percent to $429,512 in 2011, according to the Chronicle's survey of 132 of the biggest organizations. For other large nonprofits, the Chronicle said information filed in required tax filings show 2010 pay rose 2.7 percent.
Top Fundraisers
The Chronicle data is drawn from charities ranked highest in the group's Philanthropy 400, the annual list of nonprofits that raise the most from private sources. The Chronicle collected compensation data on 274 charities and 49 foundations.
Total compensation includes salary, bonuses, deferred compensation, and retirement pay that individuals received in a single year. Other payments can include housing allowances, club dues, and additional perks nonprofits counted as compensation.
The annual survey is a way for executives and their boards to take a measure of pay and for donors to find out what's happening, as well, said Stacy Palmer, Chronicle editor.