Should Nonprofit Leaders to Make Big Bucks?

“Recently, I came across this comment on a Huffington Post article about nonprofit salaries:

“Here’s why I don’t donate to non-profits. There is no legal cap to the salaries paid to executives. Really? Do y’all think I donated to feed the pig CEO, or the needy? See a poor person in the street, give them the money. They may buy a bottle, but at least they will see the money, with no strings attached.”

At some level, he has a point.

If the goal of a nonprofit is to solve a societal problem, shouldn’t as much money as possible go directly to the people being helped? Isn’t it true that every dollar paid to the “pig” CEO is a dollar pulled away from achieving the mission?

It’s exactly this commenter’s attitude that makes nonprofits frightened about “overhead.” I’ve written before about whether nonprofit overhead is too high. Today I want to explore something a bit more specific.

Is it inappropriate for nonprofit leaders to be well paid? And how can nonprofits – especially smaller ones that don’t have big budgets — navigate this dilemma?”

Read the full post here.