April 21, 2014 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The Chronicle’s report on fundraisers’ compensation includes more than 430 people from about 280 nonprofits that each received more than $35-million from private sources in 2011.
The data, collected with assistance from GuideStar, was culled from Internal Revenue Service Forms 990, which charities must file annually. The Chronicle study is based on the forms from 2012, the latest year of filing by most nonprofits. Our interactive graphic contains those numbers as well as compensation information from 2011 tax forms.
According to IRS regulations, nonprofits must disclose the pay of all people who make more than $150,000 and list the compensation of people who are among the five highest-paid workers and who earn more than $100,000.
Religious organizations, like the Salvation Army, are not required to file the forms, so although many of them raise more than $35-million, what they pay their fundraisers cannot be determined.
Identifying Fundraisers
The Chronicle used various approaches to acquire pay information on nonprofit employees who work as fundraisers. One approach entailed searching for words such as “advancement,” “development,” “fundraise,” “donor,” and “philanthropy” in the titles of officials listed on the 990 forms. Chronicle staff members also worked to identify those who should be included even if their titles do not suggest fundraising as their primary role. Among them: Richard Shadyac Jr., chief executive of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, the fundraising arm of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Components of total compensation include base pay, bonuses, employer contributions to retirement plans, debt forgiveness, travel and moving expenses, spending accounts, club dues, health benefits, life insurance, and other benefits.
Deferred compensation is included only when paid out, not when set aside. Some compensation listed is for a partial year, as some employees may have started their jobs after January 1 or left them before December 31.
To report any needed corrections in the data, please send an e-mail to research@philanthropy.com.
Sarah Frostenson, Joshua Hatch, Justin Myers, and Ryiesha Simms contributed to the special report.
