Nonprofit compensation

I recently saw this on slate.com about nonprofit CEO compensation. I liked the responses that Patty and Sandy gave to the question of "is $200,000 too much for a nonprofit CEO to make?"

I often get frustrated when people get critical of nonprofit salaries. A lot of people think if you are doing something for the good of mankind, then you should be happy with the knowledge of a job well done. That's all fine and good if you are independently wealthy but running a nonprofit is full time plus job. I also know that when there are more opportunities than resources, an organization can run a pretty shabby business (and it is a business even if it is not making money). If you don't have the infrastructure, they can't make the programs work. When people say they only want their money to go to programs, they are saying "I want you to do great work for free". Let's be realistic. Nobody asks doctors to do their job for free and they are helping people and making the world a better place.

I'm glad people are asking the questions. I think they just don't know how nonprofits work. But if people don't ask questions, things could get out of control. Hurray for people investigating where there money goes. If only people were as interested in where their money goes in the financial market.