Small change in the world of big business. You pay peanuts......
A ton of people have asked how much Paul Cayard made at US Sailing. According to IRS form 990 for 2021, he was paid about $188,000 in total. But even more fascinating is that Jill Nosash, the Chief Development Officer was paid $227,272. And what, exactly did she develop??
It all adds up to a fair bit of money. Wonder what the rank and file US Failingmember thinks about this?
Yes, development in NPOs = "fundraising." And yes, they are a profit center amid a large number of cost centers. However, your description of the job ("lots of rich friends...sweet, mellow gigs for semi retired corporate folks") is way off the mark. Being a foundation exec or a sr development exec is a career and you don't succeed if you get appointed after an unrelated career. Also, US Sailing is not "mellow," as we can see in the news. Foundation fundraising is a brutal, competitive landscape with a lot of "deserving" 501-c-3s going after a small number of deep pocket donors and grants. Also, there doesn't appear to be "an army of fundraisers." The foundation staff list shows four people.
But...but...you totally miss the point here. The question is: what can YOU do for your country!
It's true there are short-term/current gifts to look at. How did they do this year? But I also think good fundraising operations are strategic – long-term. There are a lot of young people who have no real money today, who will be "fresh money" (as you call it) in the future. If you wait until they have the means before trying to establish a relationship, they will not give much (or at all). So most fundraising work consists of what is euphemistically called "cultivation." I.e., getting people connected, informed, interested and involved without ever talking about money. The current fundraisers work with the audience that was developed in the past. The future fundraisers will work with the audience being developed now. In a few years, they'll know whether today's team was successful, but I dont think you can judge their impact solely by the current list of largest donors. Without going into their system and looking at the entire range of results, it's hard to judge. They could be doing a great job, they could be a disaster at fundraising.
Yup. Especially for a northeast-based membership organization that's middling pay for those sorts of positions. People love to tear apart 990s, but most people at nonprofits give up potential earnings to be there. Now, performance is another matter, but those salaries are not out of line.
Actually, I heard this morning that said development director is no longer developing for US Sailing.
