Do nonprofits have to pay big bucks for CEOs?
Should nonprofit executives be paid as highly as their peers in the private sector? Some Charlotte-area nonprofit leaders and consultants say no. That question was raised last week when Charlotte’s United Way board chairman defended the pay package provided to the group’s president, Gloria Pace King. “Increasingly, our consultants tell us you can’t look in the nonprofit sector in isolation,” Graham Denton told WCNC-TV, the Observer’s news partner. King’s compensation, which topped $1.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 2007, included more than $822,000 in retirement benefits, six-times more than the previous year. Denton said the board failed to adequately fund King’s retirement beginning around 2000, so last year’s and future years’ payments must be larger than normal to make up the shortfall. Denton has said the agency must offer competitive compensation to attract and retain top talent. Calls to United Way requesting comment from King were referred to Denton. At Goodwill Indust
