DATELINE: February 7, 2008, Chicago
Seems these days everybody is an arm-chair compensation expert. Take Bernie Dehler, who authors the FreeGoodNews blog. He is featured today in the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Give & Take column. The Chronicle reports on Dehler's recent survey of the compensation paid to leaders of large Christian charities. We find Dehler's conclusions to be...
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troubling. Specifically, he objects to the fact that William Franklin Graham earned $120,905 in 2005 from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and $345,293 from the Samaritan's Purse during the same period. Dehler refers to this as "double dipping."
Put bluntly, who appointed Dehler the arbiter of what constitutes reasonable compensation? He describes the $120,905 as "That's not bad," but then goes onto to describe the $345,293 as "bad…bad, bad!" We'd like to know the basis for Dehler's conclusions. He does not describe exactly what services Graham provides to these charities, nor does he describe the outcomes achieved by these charities. It may be that Graham is a highly effective leader and that both charities accomplish many positive outcomes. If that is the case, Graham may be worth his weight in gold, entitled to every penny he earns.
The use of the phrase "double dipping" carries negative connotations. Yet, Graham may be working 80 or 90 hours a week. The fact that someone earns two paychecks doesn't automatically equate with double dipping—which we take to mean that someone is being paid twice for the same work. There are many Americans who work two and even three jobs. They aren't double dippers. They are simply busting their butts to support their families, earn money for investment in small businesses, or trying to put themselves through college.
It may turn out that Dehler is right, but we don't see sufficient facts mentioned in his commentary to support his claim. It appears that he simply believes $466,198 is too much money for someone to make, particularly a religious leader. As we have noted before, we reject the knee-jerk assertion that people who work in the nonprofit sector must accept less than market rates of compensation for their services. The views reflected by Dehler and others are potentially harmful to the sector because they can lead to misguided hiring and compensation decisions. We'd much rather see a charity pay a premium for an executive who can achieve extraordinary results than hire a second rate manager who maintains the status quo and accomplishes little.
At the end of the day, neither Dehler's, nor our opinion matter. As the Chronicle points out, Dehler's survey is derived from publicly-available data. That means donors to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan's Purse, and the other charities mentioned in Dehler's survey can curb what might be excessive salaries by voting with their pocketbooks. If donors chose not to examine the publicly-available data, they have only themselves to blame if their money is going to waste.
Dehler should focus less on raw numbers and more on the process by which compensation is set. That is always the more relevant inquiry, as state regulators, the IRS, and the courts will tell you.
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