Budgets are getting tightened or slashed from coast-to-coast. And lawmakers are looking at cutting the salaries and retirement compensation paid to the leaders of big nonprofits.
According to the July 26, 2010, New York Times article, “Lawmakers Seeking Cuts Look at Nonprofit Salaries” by Stephanie Strom (http://nyti.ms/9leP6m), Senators on Capitol Hill are refusing federal grant money to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America after staff members looked at the organization’s tax forms as part of a routine vetting process and were surprised to learn that the organization paid its chief executive almost $1 million in 2008 — $510,774 in salary and bonus and $477,817 in retirement and other benefits.” This examination is causing the lawmakers to “raises questions about how the organization manages its finances in other areas.”
All this leads to question the transparency of many nonprofits. As the budget crisis in many organizations increases, lawmakers and the like will keep a keener eye on the bottom lines of nonprofits.