Some Nonprofit Chiefs Rake It In

One nonprofit group that helps people who are in debt in South Carolina paid its chief executive more than $5 million—nearly all the money it had, an investigation by The Charlotte Observer has found. Loopholes and understaffing mean that a federal law that prohibits charities from awarding outsize compensation often goes unenforced. Most years, fewer than 10 of the estimated 2 million nonprofit leaders nation-wide are penalized getting paid too much. The investigation rounded up some shocking local examples: Charlotte’s United Way CEO was given a $2 million pension package, and a nonprofit called Bible Study Time paid its president and her multiple family members who were on the pay roll a whopping $1 million total, about 40 percent of the group’s total budget.