Managing Your Money : SMALL CHANGE : These Charity CEOs Don’t Need Alms

Spurred by the latest United Way scandal, which revealed that the organization’s chief executive was spending charity funds on himself, the nonprofit Philanthropic Advisory Service has expanded its annual charity index to include data on charity executives’ pay.

Not surprisingly, United Way’s chief executive, who made $441,971 (including contributions to his benefit plan) in 1991, was the top-paid charity executive, according to the PAS index.

The rest of the top 10: City of Hope paid its CEO $392,000; American Heart Assn., $308,613; Save the Children Federation, $301,672; National Wildlife Federation, $299,083; Muscular Dystrophy Assn., $291,593; Boy Scouts of America, $277,425; U.S. Olympic Committee, $270,745; United Jewish Appeal, $258,078, and People-to-People Health Foundation, $237,000.

“The Annual Charity Index,” a 272-page book that examines the nation’s 200 most asked-about charities, also shows administrative costs as a percentage of each charity’s income. The index also contains data on staffing, charity affiliates and amounts spent on specific programs.

The book is $12.95 from PAS’ parent, the Council of Better Business Bureaus, 4200 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22203.

So what does the Council of Better Business Bureaus pay its head? In fiscal 1990, the latest year available, $150,000. As a council spokeswoman says, the organization is not for profit, but it’s not a charity.