Compensation of Top Foundation Executives
in 2009: a Sampling
Women Still Lag in Pay,
Study of Nonprofits Finds
Compensation
Benefits
Casey Family Programs 1
J. Paul Getty Trust 2
Menil Foundation
William Bell, Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Boateng, Chief Investment Officer
James Wood, President*
James Williams, Chief Investment Officer
Josef Helfenstein, Director
Emily Todd, Deputy Director
$565,110
773,954
998,235
1,011,744
358,000
170,138
$89,125
115,750
274,793
44,668
n/a
n/a
progress that CEO’s are mak-
ing.”
Mr. McLean speculated that
scrutiny of executive compen-
sation by the IRS and others
might be causing charities to
close pay gaps by gender at the
chief-executive level. “Maybe
that’s not happening in the mar-
keting department and in other
areas,” he says.
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 3
Duke Endowment 4
Ford Foundation
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation 5
By Ben Gose
Female executives are receiving a smaller percentage of
the total compensation paid by
charities, even though the proportion of charity leaders who
are women continues to rise, a
new study has found.
The proportion of chief executives who are women edged
higher in 2008, to nearly 47
percent, according to an annual
survey conducted by GuideStar,
an organization in Williamsburg, Va., that collects the informational tax forms that non-profit groups are required to file
with the Internal Revenue Service.
Yet female leaders continue
to be much more heavily represented at smaller charities.
Women held 57 percent of the
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Houston Endowment
James Irvine Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 6
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Kresge Foundation 7
Lilly Endowment
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 8
Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
David and Lucile Packard Foundation 9
Starr Foundation
Wallace Foundation
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
Allen Greenberg, President $450,000
n/a
n/a
$55,779
59,677
303,271
100,820
161,171
164,108
116,447
63,101
86,836
57,816
119,906
55,980
106,183
119,880
242,809
107,486
76,247
45,345
140,549
97,441
147,363
121,874
617,124
211,495
97,158
70,021
116,909
133,678
n/a
n/a
115,267
89,663
53,249
33,904
Female leaders
continue to be
much more heavily
represented at
smaller charities.
chief-executive positions at organizations with budgets of $1-
million or less but only 38 percent of the top positions at organizations with budgets of more
than $1-million.
Female charity leaders received a median salary increase
of 4 percent in 2008, roughly the
same increase received by their
male counterparts.
Over all, women held 48 percent of the jobs in the 14 leadership categories that GuideStar
tracks—including top positions
in finance, operations, development, and marketing.
However, women received
only 29 percent of the total compensation in the survey, down
from 35 percent in 2007.
“Female CEO’s really are
making some progress,” says
Chuck McLean, GuideStar’s
vice president for research and
the author of the report. “But
women in other positions don’t
seem to be keeping up with the
Recession’s Impact
Male and female chief executives at the largest charities
received bigger raises in 2008
than their counterparts at
smaller charities. The two largest groups of charities in the
survey—with revenues greater
than $25-million—raised salaries for chief executives by more
than 5 percent in 2008. The
four smallest groups of charities—with revenues of $2.5-mil-
lion or less—raised salaries by
4 percent or less.
Mr. McLean cautions that the
compensation captured by this
year’s survey was set before the
economy faltered in late 2008.
“We know from our economic
surveys that a lot of organiza-
tions have not been giving sala-
ry increases over the last couple
of years,” he says. “When I look
at 2010 data two years from
now, I expect that the salary
data will be pretty much like
the 2008 data, or maybe even
be a little lower.”
The highest median salaries
for all leadership positions in
Women who led
charities received
roughly the same
median raise as
their male peers.
* Deceased.
1 Mr. Bell’s compensation includes a $112,500 bonus; Mr. Boateng’s compensation includes a $375,000 bonus.
2 Mr. Wood’s compensation includes a $240,000 housing allowance.
3 Mr. Henry’s compensation includes $40,364 deferred compensation; Mr. Heil’s compensation includes a $155,960 bonus and $69,991 in deferred
compensation.
4 Mr. Walker’s compensation includes a $10,000 bonus.
5 Mr. Hoagland’s compensation includes a $1,125,000 bonus.
6 Ms. Lavizzo-Mourey’s compensation includes $409,806 in deferred compensation, and her benefits include $138,277 in deferred compensation; Mr. O’Neil’s
compensation includes $121,093 in deferred compensation.
7 Mr. Manilla’s compensation includes a $134,582 bonus and $149,845 in deferred compensation.
8 Mr. Smith’s compensation includes a $151,969 bonus.
9 Mr. Moehling’s compensation includes a $450,000 bonus.
How The Chronicle Conducted Its Spot Check of CEO Salaries
By Noelle Barton
To determine salary trends in
the nonprofit world, The Chronicle sought compensation data
from charities on the Philanthropy 400, The Chronicle’s annual list of charities that raise
the most money in private donations. It also sought information
from 50 of the nation’s wealthiest foundations.
The Chronicle asked each organization to answer a questionnaire and provide its most
recent Form 990, the informational tax return the Internal
Revenue Service requires charities to file annually, or its Form
990-PF, the equivalent return
for grant makers.
The Form 990 collects a broad
array of information on compensation and benefits, and
The Chronicle’s questionnaire
asks for more detail, such as
the amount awarded in bonuses
and other payments.
Due to one-time circumstances, such as a performance bonus
or other payments, it is often
difficult to compare year-to-year
information even of the same individual over time.
The Chronicle gathered in-
formation on an organization’s
top official, such as the chief ex-
ecutive, president, or executive
director, and the highest-paid
employee other than the top ex-
ecutive.
Data Will Be Updated
Due to changes in the Form
990 that took effect with the
2008 tax year, many organiza-
tions that operate on a fiscal
year were unable to provide cal-
endar-year 2009 pay data. Their
2009 pay information won’t ap-
pear until they file their Form
990 for the fiscal year ending in
2010, which they generally don’t
do until a few months after the
close of the fiscal year.
The Chronicle’s spot check of
salaries was compiled by Noelle
Barton, Marisa López-Rivera,
and Alex Richards, with assistance from Emma L. Carew, Jon
Hood, and Alissa Moen.
the survey were paid by science
and technology research institutes ($134,329), health organizations ($131,145), and medical-research charities ($115,110).
The lowest median salaries
were paid by nonprofit groups
that focus on religion ($57,001),
food and nutrition ($65,620),
and animal welfare ($67,498).
The survey also examines
median pay for all leadership
positions in 20 large metropolitan areas.
For the fifth straight year,
charities in Washington paid
the highest median CEO salary, $125,052. Organizations
in the Riverside-San Bernardino area of California paid the
least, $82,007.
The 2010 GuideStar Non-profit Compensation Report is
based on an analysis of federal tax returns filed by nearly
100,000 nonprofit groups. Electronic copies of the report can
be purchased for $349 on the
GuideStar Web site. Go to:
http://www.guidestar.org.
