Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2007 > December > 19
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Charities in the marketplace
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A top Atlanta story of the day is the revelation that the top executive of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, who retired in July with a pension payout of $106,000 per year, was given a lump sum award of $1.6 million.
The Board of Directors did not vote on his pay or the additional $1.6 million payment, which were decided by a compensation committee. The executive, Mark O’Connell, was paid $250,000 in 1999, compensation that rose to $446,729 this year.
The revelation will most assuredly affect the willingness of individuals to contribute through United Way. It’s a bit difficult for workers making $30,000 per year to pay a middleman sums they’d consider outrageous for processing their financial gifts to the needy.
The question is whether your future contributions to this or to other organizations are affected by stories like the one today?
My view of this is the same as my view of campaign finance and lobbyist disclosure. Put the information quickly on the record and open for inspection — and the marketplace, whether that’s voters or contributors, will regulate the practices in question. United Way donors will send a strong message with their checkbooks to the board and to its compensation committee.
