The Dec. 8 front-page story “Clark County nonprofits’ top earners: What is fair?” had useful facts but less useful opinions about what nonprofit executives should earn. There are at least three misleading opinions in the story.
First, left unchallenged was that nonprofits are funded by donations and, therefore, leaders should be paid less. Not true. The top earners listed lead businesses that earn their revenue. PeaceHealth survives by charging for health care — not by soliciting donations. That requires executives with business acumen — not just fundraising charm.
Second, it is not mainly complexity but, rather, competing for talent with for-profit businesses that drives up the price. So, a homeless shelter, no matter how complex, doesn’t compete in the same price range as a credit union or hospital.
Third point to be ignored was a fair ratio of salary vs. revenue and people. Comparing the person making $12,000 to the person making $1.2 million and considering the relative sizes of the organizations, revenue, and employee ratios both suggest the $12,000 stipend is either several times too large or the PeaceHealth CEO is underpaid. But cutting the stipend down to the ratio wouldn’t be fair, would it?
