Theres an article out of Texas - hardly 'hostile' territory for BSA, given local politics and the fact that BSA's National HQ is there. It focuses on the salaries paid to Boy Scout executives.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/...
For an organization that has continually LOST membership, and been embroiled in scandal after scandal on fraudulently inflated membership numbers it's interssting that the top management in BSA is VERY well paid compared to their peers in other non-profits. This issue has been raised regularly in the non-profit world - if not covered as well in the MSM.
While the article focuses on only a few cases, it should be noted that the heads of local councils are often VERY well paid for the areas they live in - even when paid under $100,000. In a VERY small council in upstate NY, the head was paid more than the mayor of nearby Syracuse.
continued below the fold.......
from http://www.mysanantonio.com/...
Big paydays
The Scouts are distinct from most non-profits in several ways. One is size.
Despite membership losses and a decline in net revenue from $54 million in 2000 to $28 million in 2007, the Scouts remain one of the nation's largest nonprofits. The national organization, not counting the local councils, has nearly $900 million in assets. With the local councils, total income was $1 billion in 2006.
Another distinction is an incentive and supplemental retirement package, more often found in the corporate world, that the Scouts' executive board instituted to attract and retain executives.
It can be worth millions to executives who stay with the Scouts long-term.
One who benefited is Roy Williams. As chief executive for seven years, his salary almost doubled, topping $580,000 in 2006, according to Scout tax forms. When he retired in September 2007 after a 35-year career, Williams received more than $1.5 million, including $912,000 from incentives for longevity of service.
Williams is one of the executives who qualified for a "retirement restoration" plan on top of the usual retirement offered employees. For Williams, that was worth $2.4 million, paid out over time.
Williams' successor, Robert Mazzuca, who's been with the Scouts for 38 years, was paid $377,617 in 2007. His deferred compensation of $322,237 includes $251,204 set aside in his supplemental retirement plan and $49,167, which is the incentive to stay with the Scouts that he'll collect only if he does.
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ERI found that the Scout chief executive's $589,000 salary in 2006 exceeded the 75 percentile level of the average salary ranges for all of comparable nonprofit CEO salaries.
The differences were even greater when compared with the human services groups and the youth organizations. In other words, when considering the national headquarters alone, the Scout salary was in at least the top quarter of all non-profits of the same size.
Big fish in smaller ponds
Of the 20 largest local councils in 2006, 11 executives were paid salaries over $200,000 and one exceeded $300,000. In addition, deferred compensation was allocated to all, most in five-figure amounts, although it's unknown whether they'll ultimately receive it
Frankly, I think this article understatesmost of the compensation packages. I looked at 990's a while ago and BSA execs get paid from a vaariety of sources. I was also told by National people that top execs also collect pay from 'Boy's Life' - the magazine Scouts get and other enterprises associated with Scouting. Transparency is NOT a big thing in BSA - quite the opposite. Many BSA execs get use of cars, and far more - our former local Council head was even lent the money for a downpayment on a house when he came here - you have to dig DEEP to find this stuff.
The first tier of BSA employees are NOT paid well, but if they work their way up and make it to the Scout Executive level - running local Councils - or BSA Regional or BSA National (NO volunteer I know has ANY idea of what BSA regional or national people actually DO for Scouting..... seriously. They revise Merit Badge books once a decade and vainly try to come up with ways to get more members - even as they make it HARDER for volunteers running Troops and Packs.... lots of CYA paperwork now, required training (good - but run by volunteers) and an unending emphasis onmembership - add more kids (whether interested or not) and raise more money).
Locally, our former Scout Exeutive - who was antagonistic towards volunteers and who failed to meet ANY goals for memberhipo and fundraising (indeed a fwew hundred adult volunteers left Scouting, they were so disgusted with property sales and his behavior) - was paid TWICE what the local head of Girl Scouts made. In comparison, Girl Scouts has TWICE as many children participating in their program here (the same geographic area).
There are some truly dedicated people among the paid srtaff in BSA but the upper echelons are too often involved solely for their own beneift - and do all they can to protect THEIR compensation.
Considering that VOLUNTEERS do most of the real work in Scouting - and most wonder just what the paid staff actually do.... considering that the standing joke among Scoutmasters andCubmasters is that the ONLY time they see paid staff is when they show up to ask for for money (to cover THEIR salaries since activity fees cover the associated expencses for things like camping) ..... considering that some countries don't have ANY paid staff involved in their Scouting programs......
People SHOULD be asking if those running BSA are worth the rather excessive salaries and benefits they receive.
In what other organization are top executives REWARDED for FAILURE?
oh yeah.... that IS the "American Way" now, isn't it?.........
The irony is that you have people earning a FRACTION of what paid staff in BSA make running Troops and Packs, spending time every week on meetings and one or two weekends a month on Scouting - spending their vacation time at Summer Camp (and PAYING to go with their unit) - spending SUBSTANTIAL amounts to go to BSA owned national camps like Philmont (while Council Board Members get nice free trips - makes them more amenable to doing as the paid staff asks).......
Where DOES all the money go in BSA? In the case of the Council in NY cited earlier, the Scout Executive (the paid head of the small local Council)
Grillo's pay had raised eyebrows. At $97,096 in 2006, his salary ate up 39 percent of the council's expenses. "I think it's too much," said Mark Rogers, a Scout leader. "The mayor of Syracuse only makes $80,000 and he runs a whole lot more people than [Grillo] did."
In this case BSA had not merged this small Council into other nearby larger ones. It waws preserved as a sinecure for a long time BSA paid employee - a very well paid sinecure. There's a very active 'good old boy's network' in BSA - prime spots go to the well connected. The former Hed of Greater Alabama Council was paid over $200,000 in Birmingham Alabama (where median salary was $37,000) before his path to the head of BSA National was cut short by ANOTHER membership scandal (the second time he was caught fraudulently inflating numbers - and using those numbers to solicit funds from United Way and others). He quietly resigned - though still collecting a nice pension and benefits - when the outrage had cooled and attention was elsewhere. He had insisted that boys named 'John Doe' living at the same address as Council Offices (expensive brand new Council offices) were so listed 'for their protection.'
The worst thing is that any volunteers that raise these issues - who TRY to reform these unethical practices - are tehmsleves slandered, having their memberships revoked by BSA. Once removed from BSA, these volunteers are kept out of any meetings where tehy can raise their concerns. BSA is a 'representive democracy, run by volunteers' ONLY when the volunteers do as they are told by the paid employees - the paid EMPLOYEES that are supposed to support the efforts of the volunteers that do the REAL work in Scouting.