ÜBERCEO

The Chronicle of Philanthropy released a report last October revealing that 30 nonprofit CEOs are paid more than $1 million dollars annually.  Compared to CEOs in the public sector, that's not a lot.  However, many believe that nonprofit CEOs should be motivated by the belief in their cause, rather than cash.  Others claim that to attract the best CEO to run a company—nonprofit or public—the salary needs to be competitive.

Of the 1.5 million nonprofits registered in the US today, only 0.02 percent of their CEOs earn over a $1 million a year. Even then, the majority of the high earners are presidents, professors or coaches at well-known private universities like University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Stanford University.

We ask:  Is a $1 million salary for a nonprofit CEO appropriate or outrageous?

We've seen the arguments for both sides and here's where we sit. We believe that CEOs of for-profit companies are no less passionate for their cause or companies than CEOs at non-profits.  The skills required of a CEO at a non-profit are no less than those at for-profits companies.

So yes, we side with Betsy Brill (and her article in Forbes last week) who believes a nonprofit CEO be paid a salary comparable to that of a CEO working the same job in the for-profit world. 

Why? Because, it all comes down to this: Is the CEO getting his or her job done?

No longer are nonprofit employees “ultimate do-gooders” and “angelic advocates who are willing to sacrifice their own financial gain to serve a noble cause.”  They're hard-working, dedicated individuals who have comparable skills and experience to their counterparts in the for-profit world.

I have worked with and met many incredibly dedicated nonprofit chief executives. Nobody could look at Zainab Salbi of Women for Women International and argue that she does not live and breathe her nonprofit’s mission. But she doesn’t just dream big. She has been getting her hands dirty for years, expanding the reach of her organization, making Women for Women a household name, and, as a result, she has helped thousands of women survivors of war. She is a successful chief executive and she deserves every penny she makes.

The moral of the story is that we need to stop judging nonprofits by different standards. Hard work is hard work. Period. Nonprofit staff, from the CEO down to administrative assistants, should get competitive salaries comparable to the salaries of their for-profit counterparts. Otherwise, all top executive talent will continue to be drawn to the for-profit world—a sort of executive brain drain—leaving nonprofits without the quality leadership necessary to realize their noble, "do-gooder" missions.