Leader’s Pay Under Fire as D.C. Charity Cuts Services

Food & Friends, a Washington charity that feeds homebound HIV-AIDS and cancer patients, has announced it is cutting some of its services due to lean donations and rising costs — just as the group is drawing criticism from supporters who say it pays its leader excessively, reports The Washington Post.

The charity paid Craig M. Shniderman, its executive director, $357,447 in salary and benefits last year, and Mr. Shniderman, 60, said he received a 4 percent raise this year. “Food & Friends compensates all of the staff appropriately, and that compensation is not, shall we say, fluctuated according to the momentary circumstances,” he said.

Donors, AIDS activists, and nonprofit watchdogs have criticized the charity’s decision to compensate Mr. Shniderman to that degree. “It appears excessive in relation to other nonprofits in related fields,” said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy.

Food & Friends’ board of directors defended Mr. Shniderman’s pay, citing his long experience in social services and the scope of his responsibilities as leader of the charity, which runs on an $8-million annual budget and a staff of 58. “We are lucky to have him, and we should pay him at the top of the range in order to incentivize him and retain him,” said Christopher Wolf, a member of the group’s executive committee.

To learn more about what charity leaders make, read The Chronicle‘s most recent survey of nonprofit executive compensation.

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