WOULD YOU WORK FOR NO MONEY?

Well would you? No, I'm not talking about volunteering. I mean do what you do every day at your nonprofit, but for free. Yes you have said "I love my job so much that I'd do it even if they didn't pay me". But what if they didn't?

A friend of mine recently said that she didn't know people who worked for nonprofits got paid! It bothered her that any of her donation went to someone doing accounting, she had given it to the kids!

So here we are worrying about excessive compensation, and she's worrying about compensation period.

The fix is in folks. Now that the new 990 is a reality, anyone paid more than $150,000/yr will be highlighted. Yes, this means you. While the average household income in the US still hovers around $36,000, try living in Manhattan or San Francisco (or LA for that matter) on under $100,000.

A recent cost-of-living comparison showed a $116,000 salary in LA to be the equivalent of $212,000 in Manhattan. Given numbers like that, the Executive Directors in Manhattan sure get a raw deal on the 990. They appear to be paid excessively while the LA equiv skates on by under the radar. Is nobody thinking over there at the IRS???

OK, last question (alas I don't have many answers today): Anyone know a for-profit executive responsible for running a multi-million dollar corporation that gets paid LESS than $150,000???

fin.

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