Executive Compensation at No Kid Hungry (2021)

No Kid Hungry (NKH) is actually a national campaign started in 2010 by Share Our Strength (SOS), a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) 3 whose focus is on ending childhood hunger in the United States although they do limited international work.  Based in Washington, DC, SOS does this by raising funds and awarding grants (52% of revenue in 2021, 20% in 2020; 12% in 2019) and advocating for this disadvantaged group.

SOS has 17 voting members (directors) of the governing body, 16 of whom are independent; 9 (53%) of whom are male; 8 (47%) of whom are female.

Key information from the Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021) include:

• 94% of revenue was spent  (compared to 54% in 2020 with 46% added to the general fund)
• 52% of revenue was given in grants to other organizations who feed hungry children (compared to 21% in 2020). These organizations have to deduct their costs (i.e. staff, office, etc) from these grants which means that even less is going to feed hungry children.
• 42%  of revenue was used for organization compensation, fees (primarily fundraisers), office, travel, conferences, advertising, and promotion.

In 2021, total revenue was $145 million (compared to 160 million in 2020, $75 million in 2019, and $66 million in 2018), due to increased contributions, gifts, and grants.  This appears to be due to significant fundraising efforts by the organization.

Expenses totaled $136 million (94% of revenue), allocating the remaining revenue – $9 million – to the general fund (savings) which along with $1 million of unrealized gains on investments increased net assets from $115 million at the beginning of the year to $125 million at year-end.

The largest expenses were grants ($75 million) and compensation ($32 million). 326 employees received $32 million in compensation which equates to an average compensation of $98,000.  66 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation.  The 18 most highly compensated employees were reported to be:

• $465,654:  William H Shore, Founder, Executive Chairman, Director
• $457,771:  Thomas Nelson, President and CEO, Secretary
• $308,578:  Charles Scofield, EVP
• $293,477:  Jill Davis, SVP, Chief Revenue Officer
• $269,183:  Debbie Shore, Co-Founder
• $260,650:  Serena Williams, SVP, Chief People Officer
• $260,162:  Lisa Davis, SVP, No Kid Hungry Program
• $258,782  Diana Hovey, SVP, Corporate Partnerships
• $240,165:  Jessica Sherry, SVP, CFO
• $231,186:  Amy Zganjar, SVP, Development
• $228,906:  Richard Kostro, SVP, CIO
• $214,900:  Diane Clifford, Managing Director, Constituent Dev and Ops
• $209,313:  Eliott Gaskins, Managing Director, Development
• $204,511:  Laura Washburn, Managing Director, Strategic Communications
• $197,015:  Julie Chen, General Counsel
• $187,685:  Stacy Roth, Managing Director, Organizational Planning
• $182,121:  Courtney Smith, Managing Director, Center for Best Practices
• $180,253:  Andrea Hoefling, Director, Development (national market)

As illustrated above, the 18 most highly compensated employees received more than $4 million in compensation. Important to note is that the co-founder, William Shore received nearly $500,000 in compensation as did the President and CEO (having two top salaried executives is unusual but not unheard of) making the top management position a $1 million position. In addition, it is important to note there are two founders:  William Shore and Debbie Shore who both work 40 hours per week.  However, William Shore received nearly $500,000 in compensation while Debbie Shore received nearly $270,000.  Collectively, the Shores received nearly $800,000 in compensation in 2021, and $3.5 million in compensation over the past 5 years:

William Shore and Debbie Shore

• 2021:  $465,654 + $269,183 = $734,837
• 2020:  $489,966 + $264,597 = $754,563
• 2019:  $466,605 + $252,909 = $719,514
• 2018:  $421,644 + $234,746 = $656,390
• 2017:  $324,727 + $228,166 = $552,893

In addition, Thomas Nelson received $2.4 million over the past 5 years:

Thomas Nelson

• 2021:  $457,771
• 2020:  $487,040
• 2019:  $474,947
• 2018:  $448,080
• 2017:  $476,840

Collectively these 3 employees received nearly $6 million in compensation over the past 5 years.

13 of the 18 (72%) most highly compensated employees are female while 5 of the 18 (28%) are male.  Interestingly, the Board is comprised of 17 voting members, 16 of whom are independent; 6 of the 17 (35%) are female while 11 of the 17 (65%) are male.

The organization paid for a housing allowance or a residence for personal use. Specifically, William Shore received a housing allowance of $3,000 per month.

The organization also paid for companion travel but no detail was provided.

Thomas Nelson received a contribution of $57,931 to his 457 (F) retirement plan.

40 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation.  The 5 most highly compensated independent contractors were reported to be:

• $1,848,422:  Concord Litho Group, of Concord, NH for direct mail and digital on-line fundraising
• $  661,275:  Direct Donor TV, of Bowie, MD for direct response tv/media
• $  508,267:  Facebook, of Menlo Park, CA for advertising
• $  504,445:  Further, LLC of Annapolis, MD for paid ad and search consulting
• $  492,234:  Google, of Mountain View, CA for advertising

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021), click here.