Executive Compensation at the Boy Scouts (2020)

The Boy Scouts of America (Boy Scouts) is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization headquartered in Irving, Texas.  As one of the largest youth organizations in the US, the Boy Scouts has gone through some tough times the past few years with allegations of child sexual abuse by scoutmasters and other leaders that triggered a bankruptcy filing in 2020. With a recent settlement of $850 million for the thousands of sexual abuse victims, the Boy Scouts has experienced significant financial changes.

The Boy Scouts has 74 independent voting members (board members) of the governing body (National Executive Board) although 87 are listed on the Form 990 (due to timing differences), 73 (84%) of whom are male while 14 (16%) are female (note: The Form 990 does not report gender; determinations were made based on name and google searches).

The most recent Form 990 (2020) reports the following key financial information about the Boy Scouts:

Total revenue was $275 million (compared to $409 million in 2019 and $285 million in 2018), most of which came from seminars, training, conferences, and other program services ($109 million), membership dues ($93 million), and local council assessments ($54 million).

Expenses totaled $317 million (not including $8 million in depreciation) 60% used for insurance, insurance claims, and bankruptcy expenses.  Compensation was the next highest expense at  $65 million (compared to $79 million in 2019).

2,506 employees received $65 million in compensation (compared to 4,026 employees having received $79 million in compensation in 2019) which equates to an average compensation of $26,000. 178 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation (compared to  216 in 2019) with the 19 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $711,410:  Al Lambert, ACSE
• $540,035:  Michael A Ashiline, Treasurer and CFO
• $514,187:  Erin Eisner, Chief Strategy Officer
• $512,613:  Roger C Mosby, President and CEO
• $500,543:  Todd McGregor, VP
• $478,558:  John Mosby, EVP
• $473,985:  Patrick Sterrett, EVP
• $466,414:  Jeffrey Hunt, VP
• $464,634:  Frederick Wallace, VP
• $464,479:  Steven McGowan, Secretary and General Counsel
• $429,517:  Shane Calendine, VP
• $410,046:  Lisa Young, SVP
• $351,595:  Mark Winkelmann, SVP
• $325,832:  Mark Logemann, ACSE
• $308,445:  Chasity McReynolds, EVP
• $298,939:  Vijay Challa, SVP
• $233,306:  Joseph Zirkman, Asst Secretary and Deputy General Counsel (May,2020-Dec,2020)
• $227,307:  Michael B Surbaugh, President (retired Jan, 2020)
• $213,429:  Lisa Shorb, EVP

The 19 most highly compensated employees received $8 million in compensation. 15 of the 19 (79%) of the most highly compensated employees are male while 4 of the 19 (21%) are female.

The Boy Scouts paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, and made gross up payments or tax indemnifications.  For more detail, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

47 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 5 highest reported to be:

• $13.0 million:  Sidley Austin LLP, of Chicago, IL for legal work
• $ 4.2 million:  Alvarez Marsal Holdings, LLC, of NY, NY for consulting
• $ 2.9 million:  Pachulski Stang Ziehl and Jones, of Los Angeles, CA for legal work
• $ 2.7 million:  Kramer Levin Naftails and Franke, of NY, NY for legal work
• $ 2.5 million:  Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak and Stewart, of Cola, SC for legal work

It is important to note that the Boy Scouts reported total legal fees were less than $200,000 on the Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses 11b although the above disclosure on the Form 990l, Part VII, Section B Independent Contractors reports the legal fees were $22 million just to 4 independent contractors.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020), click here.