Executive Compensation at United Way (2018)

United Way may refer to a number of charitable organizations throughout the world but in the United States, United Way generally refers to United Way Worldwide (formerly United Way of America) and/or one of the 1,800 offices in 40 countries and territories.

United Way Worldwide is the leadership and support organization for the whole network which includes approximately 1,200 local offices (approximately 67% of the total number of offices) in the United States (including DC, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands). A non-profit 501 (c) (3), United Way Worldwide is required to submit an IRS Form 990 (a tax return that provides details on revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and more) annually, as does each of the local offices.

280 people were employed and compensated $32 million by United Way Worldwide in 2018 (up from 270 employees compensated $30 million in 2017), which equates to an average compensation of $114,300, although only 107 staff received a compensation package greater than $100,000.

The IRS Form 990 (2018) reports $5.8 million in compensation to  executives – an average of $400,000 each – at the national level which is summarized as follows:

• $1,076,870:  Brian Gallagher, President and CEO
• $  473,302:  Mary Sellers, United Way US Network, US President
• $  433,056 :  Lisa Bowman, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer
• $  392,956:   Lee Love, EVP, Chief Investment Relations Officer
• $  372,977:  Mark D Sutton, EVP and CFO
• $  362,865:  William Browning, SVP Digital Tech Solutions & Transformation
• $  362,036:  Jose Ferrao, International President
• $  347,079:  Steve Taylor, SVP, Counsel, Public Policy
• $  346,970:  Lori Malcolm, EVP, Chief Culture Officer
• $  311,585:  Brian LaChance, SVP, Chief of Staff
• $  310,903:  Patricia Turner, SVP and General Counsel
• $  280,014:  John Taylor, SVP, Chief Technology Officer
• $  264,442:  Paul DeBassio, EVP, Investor Relations
• $  232,948:  Maureen Grant-Hayes, VP Major Donor Relations
• $  229,243:  Darlene Slaughter, VP, Chief Diversity Officer

8 of the 15 (53%) most highly compensated employees are male while 7 (47%) are female. Of the 10 most highly compensated employees, 6 are male while 4 are female.

Brian Gallagher, President and CEO received total compensation of $1,076,870 in 2018 (and $1,663,398 in 2017) .  How is Brian Gallagher worth more than $1 million a year to run an organization whose basic mission is to award and monitor grants?

It is also important to note “the President and CEO, Brian Gallagher, and a small number of other employees, who routinely travel oversea, may be reimbursed for business class air travel (first class if there are only two classes) when traveling for business purposes on flights longer than four hours.”  So the question arises:  How is first or business class ever justified given the highest and best use of revenue is to be awarded in grants to worthy organizations in the community?

62 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five most highly compensated reported to be:

• $9,463,997:  Salesforce Org, of San Francisco, CA for digital platform consulting
• $3,149,897:  Beyond the Horizon, of Dallas, TX for digital integration consulting
• $1,000,000:  PIN Business Network, of Denver, CO for consulting services
• $  854,172:  Birdsall Voss and Associates, of Milwaukee, WI for consulting services
• $  773,760:  Fifty & Fifty, of San Diego, CA for consulting services

Although the consulting services above add up to approximately $15 million, United Way Worldwide actually spent about $23 million on consultants in 2018.