Pay for Some Executives at Environmental Nonprofits Tops $1 Million

John Calvelli, who oversees public affairs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, the organization that runs New York City’s zoos and a sprawling global conservation effort, is the highest-compensated executive at a large U.S.-based environmental or animal-welfare nonprofit, according to data from the Chronicle’s exclusive online salary database.

Calvelli, who earned $1.4 million last year, topped the list of the 10 highest-compensated employees working for environmental nonprofits, out-earning even his boss, Cristián Samper, the CEO, who earned $1.3 million that year and sits in the No. 2 spot on our list.

The data was drawn from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s online salary database, with information on more than 10,600 employees at large nonprofits — those with more than $35 million in annual donations from private sources — that file their informational tax forms electronically.

Calvelli’s compensation increased sharply in 2018. The year before, in the same position, he earned only $422,211, of which $375,878 was base pay. The big increase, according to the group’s 2018 tax documents, was mostly in the form of “other” compensation. This category can include such things as housing or other noncash compensation.

Reached by the Chronicle, officials at the group did not provide more information about Calvelli’s or Samper’s compensation. According to the group’s IRS 990 tax form, most of Calvelli’s “other” compensation — more than $1 million — included payments of deferred compensation accrued in earlier years under a vested “multiyear supplemental nonqualified compensation plan.” The remainder of the “other” compensation comes from such things as life-insurance policies, tuition reimbursement, and other noncash taxable benefits.

Samper was director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History before joining the Wildlife Conservation Society. Samper’s compensation package included a $156,000 housing allowance and $91,240 for tuition for his children’s education. Samper also took a payout on his accrued deferred compensation totaling $338,305.

Key employees at environmental and animal-welfare nonprofits made 45 percent less than those of all large groups in the database: $273,253 per year versus $492,810.

Nature Conservancy Turmoil

The top 10 list also includes three employees of the Nature Conservancy, which has been through tumultuous times recently.

Mark Tercek (No. 6 on the list) resigned as CEO in June in the wake of investigations into sexual harassment by other top officials at the organization. He made $799,200 in 2018.

The IRS requires nonprofits to disclose the pay of employees with total compensation of more than $150,000 annually, as well as certain other “key” employees, such as board members and former staff. Compensation includes base pay, bonuses, and benefits like health care.

The data for this study was drawn from the latest available tax filings, in some cases 2018, in others, 2017.

Touchy Subject

Compensation can be a thorny subject for a lot of nonprofits. Of the seven groups represented on this list, only three provided answers to questions about their executive-compensation policies.

A spokeman for the World Wildlife Fund released a statement saying the nonprofit’s board sets executive salaries annually using “a rigorous process based on performance and determined with the help of an independent compensation expert who analyzes organizations of similar size, scope, and reach to ensure compensation is competitive and comparable.”

A spokeswoman for the Nature Conservancy released a statement saying the group needs to be able to recruit “highly qualified leaders across the organization who are capable of driving results.” The nonprofit’s Board of Directors uses third-party market reviews of compensation data from similar organizations, surveys, and internal salary reviews “to ensure equity and competitiveness” in its compensation, the statement says.

Beth Christ Smith, vice president for human resources at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, issued a statement saying the nonprofit uses outside experts and market surveys to set appropriate executive pay.

“Given the unique value [CEO Jeffrey] Trandahl’s experience and expertise brings to NFWF, we are confident his compensation has been appropriately set by the Board of Directors,” Christ Smith stated.

Base pay accounted for 60.4 percent of the compensation for the 10 highest-paid environmental and animal-welfare nonprofit executives, while bonus pay accounted for 15 percent. That’s compared with 82 percent base pay and 5.9 percent bonus pay for the wider pool of key employees at environmental and animal-welfare nonprofits.

Michael Theis writes about data and accountability for the Chronicle, conducting surveys and reporting on fundraising, giving, salaries, taxes, and more. He recently surveyed pay packages at charities and found wide disparities in base salaries and bonuses among nonprofit causes. Email Michael or follow him on Twitter.

Correction: A previous version of this article listed Mark Tercek as president rather than CEO in the chart and referred to a Nature Conservancy spokeswoman as a spokesman.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, a spokesman noted that Calvelli’s payment was a one-time deferred payment that came after he had served the organization for 10 years. Samper’s deferred payment came after he fulfilled five years of work at the organization.