Nonprofit organizations operate under a distinct set of principles compared to for-profit organizations. They exist to serve a public or mutual benefit, and their financial resources often come from donations, grants, and other forms of charitable funding. This mission-driven nature impacts every aspect of their operations, including executive compensation.
Executive pay at nonprofits can be a controversial topic. Some believe nonprofit executives should be paid minimally to keep overhead costs low and allocate more resources for the nonprofit’s mission. Others recognize the difficulties of maintaining adequate staffing and attracting the necessary top talent to keep the organization running effectively and efficiently. In either case, CEOs tend to be the highest-paid executives at any organization.
Below is a list of the Top 10 highest–paid CEOs at nonprofits for the most recent complete form year (2022).
| Company | Name | Title | Salary | All Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pga Tour Inc | Monahan Joseph W | Commissioner | $ 14,960,274 | $3,660,583 |
| Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc | Gregory Adams | Chairman & CEO | $ 13,841,691 | $ - |
| Providence St Joseph Health | Rod F Hochman Md | President/CEO | $ 11,209,100 | $ 859,189 |
| Sentara Health | Howard P Kern | Pres/CEO/Ex-Effic Dir (Thru 9/22) | $ 10,168,793 | $ - |
| Ochsner Clinic Foundation | Warner L Thomas | Pres/CEO/Board Member (End: 11/2022) | $ 10,003,805 | $ 17,031 |
| Montefiore Medicine Academic Health System Inc | Philip O Ozuah Md Phd | President & CEO | $ 9,856,588 | $ 49,625 |
| Inspirational Network Inc | Charles David Cerullo | Director / President & CEO | $ 9,459,442 | $ 34,065 |
| Highmark Health | David Holmberg | CEO, President, & Ex Officio Director | $ 9,417,154 | $ 59,704 |
| Bon Secours Mercy Health Inc | John Starcher Jr Jd | Chief Executive Officer | $ 9,282,330 | $ 2,298,438 |
| The New York And Presbyterian Hospital | Steven J Corwin | President & CEO/Trustee | $ 8,933,522 | $4,958,678 |
It should be noted that salaries in the high millions for CEOs are not the norm, with typically only the largest of organizations paying executives in that vicinity. Average nonprofit CEO salary for the year was much lower, coming in at $152,119.
Of interest in this list is the high percentage of health care and health-related organizations represented here. ERI wrote a white paper analyzing CEO pay at nonprofits, which found health care to be one of the highest paying nonprofit industries as a whole. All this compensation information and more can be found in ERI’s Nonprofit Comparables Assessor.
Looking for more information?
Detailed nonprofit executive compensation data, including historic data and links to source documents can be found in ERI’s Nonprofit Comparables Assessor.
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