According to a recent Wall Street Journal article that quoted a Paul Light 2006 study, 44% of nonprofit execs are paid too much!

Nonprofit executive pay is a nonprofit governance concern.  Nonprofit executive pay more or less represents what a nonprofit board believes is the value an exec brings to the nonprofit.  More or less.

Over the past year I have highlighted what I thought were really outrageous salaries for some nonprofit executives who primarily ran museums, hospitals and universities.  I complain but maybe my complaint is about the unfair distribution of wealth more than whether these folks are really equal in value to their pay. 

After all, there are many really valuable people doing really important work in all kinds of fields that make a really significant difference on the daily lives of individuals and the planet who are paid pittance by comparison to these really well paid folks. 

Have their boards sat down and said -- this pay amount I am giving you is a measure of your worth?   Well, they should 'cause it appears that the American public (donor) does actually think about worth:pay and maybe nonprofit boards should reconsider their pittance payments and get out their, as responsible employers and owners, and do something about the inequities. 

Meanwhile, maybe the employers of the fat-cat nonprofits should think about using their discretionary funds and subsidizing the pay of execs in their respective fields who are doing equally noble work without all the fixings.