Opinion: ‘Digital Dumpster-Diving’ for Charity Salaries
January 16, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
When nonprofit groups give testy responses to inquiries about finances and executive compensation, the informational tax returns on the Web site GuideStar is a godsend, says an opinion article in The Boston Globe.
The article, written by Alex Beam, a Globe columnist, was prompted by National Public Radio’s refusal to send an informational tax form to Mr. Beam for a column he had planned to write on salaries at the organization. He described GuideStar as a painless way to circumvent the people denying him access.
But he also admits he had a lot of fun delving into Boston-area nonprofit groups, turning up tidbits about the salary of the timpanist at the Boston Symphony Orchestra ($200,000) and the revenue of upscale gentleman’s clubs in the area.
Mr. Beam says found GuideStar “like digital dumpster-diving: a socially acceptable, guiltily pleasurable invasion of privacy.”
Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s coverage of new GuideStar services and of problems GuideStar faced expanding its services to Britain.
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