Poll: Should a CEO of a non-profit organization be drawing a salary of aprox. $500,000 per year?

[DrDan]

21. this precedent was set by William Aramony of the United Way in the 90's

"In 1990, there were UWA office rumors about Aramony's liaisons with a teenage girlfriend on vacations in Paris, London and Cairo. An anonymous note on UWA letterhead was sent in late 1990 to UWA's chairman, Edward A. Brennan, who is the chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Company. The letter alleged that the charity was being looted by its president, who was romancing a young woman.

When Aramony was questioned about the allegations, he denied any wrongdoing. His divorce became final in 1991.[5] Late that year, a source at the national office revealed that Aramony flew first class, sometimes on the Concorde, used chauffeur-driven town cars and alleged that he had lavished expensive gifts on friends.[10] After receiving multiple requests for information from the media, the United Way of America's board of governors hired outside investigators in December, 1991. The auditors were instructed to review the books and examine accounting procedures within the agency. According to The Washington Post, their investigation "found sloppy record-keeping, inattention to detail, and accounting problems," but no direct "evidence that Aramony had enriched himself". In fact, all of Aramony's travel expenses were supposed to be reviewed before approval by the United Way's board of directors, whose chairman was Robert E. Allen, then the CEO of AT&T. The auditor's biggest criticism was that documentation was lacking to distinguish business expenditures from personal charges. The outrage from local United Way organizations across the country was overwhelming. Scores of offices disaffiliated themselves and/or discontinued their 1% "contribution" of dues to the national office.[10][14]

During a teleconference on February 27, 1992, Aramony announced his retirement with full pension benefits as soon as a successor was chosen. Until then, he would continue to receive his $390,000 salary and $73,000 in other compensation. When Jay R. Smith, publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and an active volunteer at United Way of Atlanta asked Aramony if he felt that they were not owed an apology, Aramony said:

Well, Jay, you absolutely are. I do apologize for any problems that my lack of sensitivity to perceptions has caused this movement. I do it happily and gladly to you and everyone else. I would never do anything at all that hurt local United Ways, the mission or the people we serve.

The following day, after an avalanche of calls from local chapters demanding his ouster, Senior vice president Alan S. Cooper was named acting president.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Aramony

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salary of $390K plus $73K in other compensation - and this was 20 years ago

I was working for AT&T at the time - and we were EXPECTED to give our "fair share" via payroll deduction because of Bob Allen's position with the Board of Directors. That quickly changed after this scandal.