LOCAL NEWS
Street Sense . May - June 2006
Salary Split 250000
Non-Profit Organization
Executive
Community for Creative Non-Violence
S. Watkins
Parklands Community Center, Inc.
CEO Salary
Budget 0
223,704
B.Jones
25,457
174,115
Christ House
K.Feltz
27,571
2,749,554
Miriam's House
C.Marsh
29,511
798,278
Jobs Partnership, Inc.
Rev.S.Tucker
33,767
303,658
Capital Interfaith Hospitality Network, INC (2002 Data)
J.Thomas
39,000
120,838
Safe Haven Outreach Ministry, Inc.
M.Richerson
39,408
1,529,304
New Endeavors By Women
M. Popit
40,000
657,374
Columbia Road Health Service, Inc.
A.Goetcheus
41,440
2,793,725
Samaritan Inns, Inc.
D.Erickson
42,977
2,509,968
Georgetown Ministries Center
G. Stern
44,168
269,621
Dinner Pgm for Homeless Women
K. Kirwin
45,250
303,062
Mary House
W.Murphy
47,600
363,562
Joseph's House Inc
P.Wudel
48,672
971,790
49,000
654,116
Median CEO Salary
200000
150000 100000 50000 0
$500,000 to $3.5 million
$3.5 million to $13.5 million
$13.5 million and above
Budget Size All D.C. nonprofits
Nonprofits serving homeless nationally
SALARY, from p.1 serving the poor also living among the poor. “I think there is a different perception for that kind of organization in the market place,” she said. “When a board has to set pay for an executive, they have to look at peers. And if everyone else in the market place is willing to pay a homeless [organization’s] CEO less, then it’s hard to raise that bar.” Minutti added that “the base of donors that are giving to the arts and educational institutions are often bigger donors and unfortunately charities that provide services to the less fortunate are often forgotten by large donors.” When comparing homeless service providers in D.C. to other parts of the country, it comes down to the large pool of candidates in the nation’s capital. Daniel Borochoff, president and founder of the American Institute of Philanthropy, said that in evaluating appropriate salary level a board has to ask itself the question, ‘Can we find someone comparable if we paid less?’ And in D.C. unlike in many other parts of the country, this answer is more often than not ‘yes’ as the city attracts thousands of qualified candidates looking to make a difference. Brian Carome, the executive director of Project Northstar (The Homeless Children’s Tutorial Project), has worked at homeless service providers in Washington for the last two decades and has also seen this trend. “This sector of the nonprofit world continues to attract committed and idealist individuals who are willing to put the needs of others far ahead of their own career advancement,” he said. Though Carome, who is also an active member of the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations, added that this idealism should not be taken advantage of. He said that better compensation and more competitive wages would encourage executives to stay around longer and would also limit burnout. In his book “Begging for Change,” Robert Egger, the CEO of D.C. Central Kitchen, promoted the idea that nonprofits should be structured more like corporations, including paying executives more competitively. “Inside the sector, the vast majority of leaders are under-compensated, and the growing assumption is that we’ll need to up salary levels to attract and retain talented executives,” he said. “But the public thinks ‘administrative overhead’ is a bad thing, leaving us stuck in the middle.” In the meantime, many executives are still working for a stipend, or as part of their religious
nonprofits serving homeless in D.C.
commitment, or in exchange for living arrangements. And most heads of homeless service providers are working 50- and 60- hour weeks. In its March 2006 issue, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported a survey revealing “three-quarters of charity CEOs are so fed up with their jobs that they plan to quit within the next five years” and pointed to low salaries as a strong factor fueling their discontent. Moreover, few of these homeless service providers offer health insurance or retirement benefits, which contribute further to CEO burnout. In DC, about half of the 62 nonprofits surveyed do not pay their directors any benefits; and even fewer low-budget nonprofits include benefits. (All of the salaries came from 990 tax forms, which all 501(c)3 organizations have to file with the IRS, that are posted on www.guidestar.org. The local organizations analyzed were all those D.C.-based nonprofits that mentioned serving the homeless on their IRS 990 form or website.) Still, some clients question the worth and financial compensation of executives providing them with basic human services, like shelters, meals, food distribution, literacy education, job training, housing and counseling, especially when some CEOs are making around $200,000. On any given day you can hear homeless people at soup kitchens and in front of shelters talking about how organizations are “pimping the homeless” or “getting rich on the poor.” Nevertheless, while executives are necessary to oversee the organization the most important employees to most homeless people are the frontline case workers and managers that interact with clients day to day, according to Cheryl Barnes, who recently worked her way out of homelessness and has been on the board of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless for the last nine years. She said that these men and women are not paid enough and “first-line workers also need a cost-ofliving increase each year.” And Carome, with Project Northstar, agreed. “I think a more important issue is the poor pay for our front line staff,” Carome said. “If resources can be found to provide more competitive and fair wages, in most instances, I would like to see that allocated to these front line employees first.” This is the first in a series of articles that will review local nonprofits that offer any services to the homeless. Later articles will evaluate the nonprofit services, their overall budgets and their fundraising efficiency. Laura Thompson Osuri contributed to this story.
Jobs for Homeless People (JHP) Calvary Women's Services
K. Thompson
50,099
750,549
Women Like Us
B. Richardson
51,000
224,868
Scruples Corporation
S. Yorke-Cyrus
53,833
416,278
Damien Ministries
J. Nickel
54,480
569,290
Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place
A. Morris
56,358
987,019
Northwest Church Family Network, Inc.
S. Stain
56,846
469,025
Bethany, Inc
S.Waiss
57,273
235,379
Project Northstar (Homeless Children's Tutorial Project)
B. Carome
60,432
319,297
Neighbors' Consejo
N.Shana'A-Salvador
60,542
1,386,166
Mi Casa, Inc
F. Lemos
61,374
397,928
DC Central Kitchen
R.Egger
61,462
2,934,688
Central Union Mission
D.Treadwell
65,000
4,708,799
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