POZ: AIDS Charities,
$300K Salaries & Giving Wisely

Remember my September blog post about 12 executive directors at assorted HIV and gay nonprofits making $300,000 or more? A lot of grief came my way for conducting that informal survey via examining a few years' worth of IRS 990 tax returns. Friends and supporters of the executives defended the salaries and said it was wrong to sunshine the info.

Now, an unsigned post at the POZ magazine web site has picked up on what I wrote and put the details in the larger context of helping donors get the full financial picture from AIDS charities before making a donation. I couldn't be happier with everything mentioned in the POZ column:

But before you get into the seasonal spirit of gift-giving and fundraising, heed some advice from Charity Navigator, a nonprofit group that offers guidance on smart, responsible giving.

First off: Don’t make a donation to a telemarketer, even if the caller represents a group or cause you want to support . . .

Likewise, you want to know how much of your donations are going to overhead versus going to programs and services. Blogger Michael Petrelis raised this issue in September with a post titled “$300K-Plus Club: 12 Gay & AIDS Executives’ Pay.” After looking at tax returns for related nonprofit service organizations, Petrelis found 12 executives who broke the $300,000 annual salary mark. (HIV executives making the list in 2011 include: amfAR’s Kevin Frost at $388,000, AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Michael Weinstein at $380,000, Food & Friends’ Craig Schniderman at $374,000, God’s Love We Deliver’s Karen Pearl at $318,000 and amfAR’s Jerome Radwin at $300,000.) . . .

Yes, it's good to get this compensation info out to more of the public and POZ goes further with helping donors (and clients) understand the important of transparency:

Another way to find fiscal info on your AIDS service organization or any nonprofit is to look for its IRS 990 tax forms on its website. Charities that are most transparent regarding their finances make this information accessible to the public. If you can’t find it, then don’t hesitate to call or email to request a copy. While you’re at it, ask for tax forms from the past several years so you can look for trends. 

Speaking of transparency, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation does not like it and makes no IRS 990 available on their web site. Good of POZ to recommend looking at a few years' of returns and to simply ask any charity for their tax filing. You can also find the returns at GuideStar.org and help in understanding the forms at CharityNavigator.org.

Finally, once excellent point POZ makes that I want to reiterate is this:

It also doesn’t hurt to take a look at an organization’s board of directors. Are any of the members openly living with HIV? Do they represent the community the group is supposed to be helping?

After checking out the IRS 990s, ask the organization not only if people with AIDS are on the board or in top leadership positions, but also see what mechanism they have for client input over how the money is spent and services delivered.

Let transparency reign at all AIDS nonprofits!

$300K-Plus Club:
12 Gay & AIDS Executives' Pay

As I've campaigned in recent months for every LGBT and HIV/AIDS nonprofit to post a minimum of 3-5 years of IRS 990s, and examined many tax returns for our advocacy and service organization, the number of executive directors who've broken the $300,000 salary ceiling in the past few years was a small surprise to discover.

Here are the highest-compensated executives, ranked by their last known or reported annual salary:

1. Gail Barouh: $421,200
2. Kevin Frost: $388,000
3. Michael Weinstein: $380,000

4. Chad Griffin: $379,000
5. Craig Shniderman: $374,000
6. Lorri Jean: $364,000
7. Morris Dees: $343,000
8. Richard Cohen: $339,000
9. Karen Pearl: $318,000
10. Joe Solmonese: $306,400
11. Kevin Cathcart: $300,200
12. Jerome Radwin: $300,000

Below are abbreviated fiscal profiles, arranged alphabetically, on the executives and the agencies they lead or ran before stepping down and moving on to another job. I've included three years' worth of their reported compensation and the agency's revenue, along with cumulative totals of salaries.

Transparency grades are also given, to praise the groups that post 990s on their sites and to publicize those that post a paltry single return or zero 990s, to spur them to get with the transparency program.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's leaders, because while not an LGBT organization per se, their executives included because SPLC vacuums up more and more funds from gay donors and plays an increasing role in gay advocacy.

The members of the $300K-Plus Club:

Gail Barouh

BiasHelp
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$72,200 ($668K) / $106,500 ($568K) / Pro Bono ($342K)
[Salary subtotal: $178,700]

Long Island Association for AIDS Care
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 Pay (Revenue)
$283,300 ($6.3M) / $363,200 ($5.6M) / $296,200 ($5.7M)
[Salary subtotal: $942,700]

Long Island Network of Community Services
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 Pay (Revenue)
$54,000 ($540,000) / $57,000 ($426,000) / $125,000 ($981,000)
[Salary subtotal: $236,000]

Current total salary: $421,200
Cumulative salary, all three agencies combined: $1,357,400

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Kevin Cathcart

Lambda Legal
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$289,400 ($20.7M) / $287,100 ($11.9M) / $300,200 ($11.9M)
[Cumulative salary: $876,700]

Transparency grade: B. Three years' 990s on-website.

Richard Cohen

Southern Poverty Law Center; 2009 and 2010, and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$345,000 ($15.4M) / $341,000 ($34.8M) / $339,000 ($38.7M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,025,000]

Transparency grade: D. One years' 990 on-website.

Morris Dees

Southern Poverty Law Center; 2009 and 2010, and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$348,000 ($15.4M) / $345,000 ($34.8M) / $343,000 ($38.7M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,036,000]

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Kevin Frost

AMFAR IRS 990s
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$310,000 ($20.4M) / $326,300 ($25.3M) / $388,000 ($27.3M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,024,300]

Transparency grade: C. Three years' 990s on-website.

Chad Griffin

Human Rights Campaign Disclosure
Salary: 2012 (Revenue)  
$379,000 (Estimated $44M)
[Cumulative salary: $379,000]

Transparency grade: B. Four years' 990s on-website.

Lorri Jean

Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$301,100 ($45.2M) / $371,100 ($46.4M) / $364,000 ($53.4M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,036,200]

Transparency grade: F. Zero 990s on-website.

Karen Pearl

God's Love We Deliver IRS 990s; 2009 and 2010; and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$278,000 ($8.6M) / $298,000 ($9.3M) / $318,000 ($12.8M)
[Cumulative salary: $894,000]

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Jerome Radwin

AMFAR IRS 990s
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$365,300 ($30.4M) / $482,000 ($20.4M) / $300,000 ($25.3M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,147,300]

Transparency grade: C. Three years' 990s on-website.

Craig Shniderman

Food and Friends IRS 990s
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$380,000 ($7.7M) / $598,000* ($6.9M) / $374,000 ($7.4M) 
[Cumulative salary: $1,088,000]

*$264,000 of compensation was previously reported in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 returns, and does not represent compensation in 2009, as reported in the tax return.

Transparency grade: A. Five years' 990s on-website.

Joe Solmonese

Human Rights Campaign IRS 990s
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$303,000 ($34.6M) / $283,700 ($39.7M) / $306,400 ($42.2)
[Cumulative salary: $893,100]

Transparency grade: B. Four years' 990s on-website.

Michael Weinstein

AIDS Healthcare Foundation IRS 990s; 2009 and 2010; and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$372,000 ($79.7M) / $370,000 ($97.2M) / $380,000 ($141.8M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,122,000]

Transparency grade: F. Zero 990s on-website.