Nonprofit CEOs Earned Big Paydays in 2010

Who said it didn't pay to work at a nonprofit?

According to a review of annual nonprofit reports by The Buffalo News, nonprofit CEOs earned hefty salaries in the past year.  In particular, the salaries for nonprofit health insurers in Western New York were particularly high.  For example, James Kaskie, CEO of Kaleida Health, earned a whopping $2.3 million annually. 

Even more curious, however, was that some of these organization saw their CEO compensation increase even as their overall earnings decreased.  In particular, HealthNow President Alphonso O'Neil-White saw his pay increase 11% (to $1.83 million) in 2010, even though the organization's surpluses fell to $52.7 million after a 2.3 percent drop in revenues.  HealthNow explained this discrepancy by saying that the decrease in revenue reflected "strategic initiatives" to cut costs and improve services.  As for White's pay increase, they said this was justified by the HealthNow's performance in 2009, when the company posted a $62 million surplus.

Executive compensation is obviously a sensitive issue these days, when many families are struggling to stay on their feet, so this news is probably going to be outrageous to some.  Read the full article about CEO pay at The Buffalo News.