$WEET CHARITY FOR EXECS AT NONPROFITS (IRS examining NPO salaries as illegal assets transfer)

NY POST ^ | March 13, 2005 | SAM SMITH

[Liz]

The city funnels $4B a year in taxpayer money to nonprofits that help the needy — but ignores the big bucks some of these groups pay their executives, a Post investigation has found.

A whopping 200 executives at organizations that provide services for ..... have-nots take home in excess of $150,000 a year............

Another 12 nonprofiteers make more than the top nonprofit earners in the entire state based on the budget size of their groups, according to a survey of 2002 salaries by the nonprofit watchdog Guidestar.org.

The Post found these sky-high salaries:

* Arthur Klein, CEO of NY and Presbyterian Hospitals System, makes $586,905...........

* Jeremiah Barondess, president of NY Academy of Medicine, pulls down $523,439 ($317,393).

* Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, makes $388,110 ($263,976).

* Beny J. Primm, president of Urban Resource Institute, makes $363,301 ($263,976).

* Daniel Quintero, executive director of the Kips Bay Boys' and Girls' Club, makes $290,113 ($209,675).

The groups that responded to Post inquiries said salaries come from a mix of government funding and private funding or strictly from private funding.

Klein — who owns homes on the Upper East Side and in the Hamptons, according to public records — no longer holds that ancillary position, but received a pay raise in 2003, from $572,381.

........ Primm — who owns properties in New Rochelle, Martha's Vineyard and the North Carolina coast, according to public records — is still paid more than the survey's high end.

Guidestar.org's Suzanne Coffmann said, "If you see executives making more than that [top 10 percent of industry earners] it can point to a problem."

Last August, the IRS launched an ongoing investigation of excessive executive salaries at 2,000 nonprofits. It would not identify the organizations.

[Liz]

I also would like to know WHO gave money to the Clinton library.

Shucks, would you want it splashed all over the news that all the people you pardoned are paying you off w/ contributions to your library? (/sarc)

Heck, some hicks who just fell off a turnip truck might accidentally make the connection that the donation was a quid pro quo (snicker).

[Miss Marple]

Money dropped in Salvation Army kettles is anonymous. The Salvation Army is not currying favor with big bucks donors through kettle collections.

Large donations (over $200 )should be a matter of public record, just like donations to political parties and candidates. If people are willing to make the donation, then they should be willing to let it be known that they did so.

Political parties do not have to report small donations, either.

[ARCADIA]

I appreciate your input, but the Grant Making Process isn't working in my area. It too, has been riddled with fraud.

There is no need to transfer tax dollars, either via tax deductable donations or through grants, to third party organizations. Tax moneys should be used to exclusively to fund government operations. If they have moneys to give, then lets give it back to the tax payer.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Blue Cross and Blue Shield executives should be on this list.

[Gabz]

If they have moneys to give, then lets give it back to the tax payer.

It will never work.........it makes far too much sense.......and is the RIGHT thing to do.

[Liz]

The Salvation Army is not currying favor with big bucks donors through kettle collections.

Excellent point........motive should always be factored in. An entire body of jurisprudence is predicated on ascertaining a perpetrator's motive for committing a crime. We know through experience, those who won't come clean have something to hide.

[Liz]

The most recent example of a quasi-govt agency's greed is the Fannie Mae grab by ex-CEO Franklin Raines:

Raines was fired for bungling (cooking?) Fannie Mae's books when billion dollar accounting irregularities werre uncovered.

Clinton-era appointee Raines gets a $26 million tax paid parachute — not counting a monthly pension of $116,300 for life. He owns options giving him $5.8 million in net profit plus another $8.7 million in deferred compensation......has already collected $4.87 million in special performance shares....keeps $5 million paid-up life insurance.

Mr/Mrs get free med/dental benefits for life, worth over $1 million. Raines earned $20 million in salary, bonuses and stock awards last year ......says he's entitled to paychecks til next June 22 adding another $600,000, which triggers a $2,000 monthly raise in his lifetime pension......also lays claim to disputed options with a gross value of about $5.6 million ......wants F/M to match his charitable contributions by $10,000 a year.

[NHResident]

I know of only 3 deserving places to donate:
1)The Salvation Army
2)Boy Scouts of America
3)The NRA (or any provably pro-2nd Amendment NPO)

[Mark was here]

Money dropped in Salvation Army kettles is anonymous. The Salvation Army is not currying favor with big bucks donors through kettle collections. Large donations (over $200 )should be a matter of public record, just like donations to political parties and candidates. If people are willing to make the donation, then they should be willing to let it be known that they did so. Political parties do not have to report small donations, either.

So your answer is "no".

Funny how you think $199.99 is private but a penny more is everyones business.

Donating to the United Way is no deferent than sending your money to : and you deserve to be ripped off.

If we valued our freedom we would abolish the FEC not look to them for encouragement in expanding government oversight.

[arabspacecommander]

We all donate somehow to large national NPO's. Any NPO that spends more than 8% of its income on salaries is suspect and should not be given a donation. My suggestion is to donate to a local charity where you can see what is happening to the money. Why send $50 to the NRA or Girl Scout national organization when there is a Mom and Pop NPO struggling to make ends meet down the street.

We rescue dogs and cats and do this out of our home, on a small 2 acre parcel, creating a compassionate conservative place that serves the local and county community, and helps to save $thousands of tax payer dollars each year. We don't advertise for donations, but when someone sends a check for $5 or $500 directed to spay/neuter dogs, should we report that to the IRS? We'd be spending our time accounting instead of saving lives.

The IRS parameters are very clear for the form 990, and since we receive less than $25K in donations and no grants each year and spend money out of our own pocket, why should we be subject to the same authoritarian processes by the IRS as huge NPO's? Perhaps these IRS execs would like to make a tax deductible donation to our 501c3 that will make a difference.

The incomes these guys are making really aren't the problem. The problem is the NPO board of directors that authorized this kind of compensation in the first place. People have to live (what is your time worth to you in terms of personal income), and I would never deny these people their choice in their lifestyle - would you?

Donate locally, not nationally - take care of your own backyard first, charity begins at home.

[Miss Marple]

If it makes you feel better, stand on your high-horse. I don't care what you set the limit at. If it is $10.00, fine by me. All churches have to keep track of donations, anyway, unless they are anonymous.

The point of keeping track is transperency, just as it is in politics. Don't you think we need to know who funds PETA, the Sierra Club, the Clinton and Bush Libraries? Why would donors not want to publicize large gifts?

Sorry, but you aren't going to make me feel bad about wanting those donor lists made public. Most Americans don't know that the donors are secret, and I think the public needs to be aware of this situation.

[Jay777]

Thanks for the ping. Now if only the IRS would investigate the ACLU!