Where's the Beef... er... Balance?

In the 1980's Wendy's ran a commercial with the slogan, "Where's the beef?"  I was reminded of this as the debate about CEO compensation in the charitable sector is raising its head again.

How much should a CEO be compensated? Is it really a comparison between for-profit and non-profit sectors, or is it a comparison between well-run, well managed businesses and organizations?

Donors want to make sure that their money is being used most effectively.  Did you know that on average it costs an organization 3x the salary to replace a staff person if they leave their job within 1 year? Are we setting charities up for high-staff turn-over (and therefore increased admin costs) by not compensatiting their staff appropriately?As donors is it better to pay now or later for the funding mistakes that will be made due to lack of compensation?

Charity Navigator blog just posted the comments of some of their donors about CEO compensation.   I find some irony in the fact that donors want well-run, well-managed organizations, but will put a ceiling on what that means.  There is more to an organization than what a CEO gets paid.  Are they run ethically? Are they meeting their mandate objectives?  Are they being innovative and effective in their service delivery?  Are they being responsive to their donors? 

If having a good AND well paid CEO means that this individual can focus on meeting the demands of the organization without having to worry about paying his/her own bills; is able to network in the circles that the board is demanding in order to acquire and cultivate major donorsis that worth your donation?  

With 83,000+ charities in Canada and approximately 1million in the US, CEO compensation should be a factor, but not THE deciding factor in whether you direct your charitable dollars.  Understanding the marketplace that your favourite charity operates is probably more important - how effective at addressing their mandated issue is this charity?