WE KNOW WHY THIS MAN IS SMILING, DON'T WE?

Friends, I have written, admittedly ad nauseam, about JFNA's futility under its current CEO. Without even knowing of his competency or lack thereof, here is what one independent analysis concluded:

"2014--JFNA

Institution Revenue: $184,707,017*

Institution Total Expenses: $132,898,135

Employees: 151

Salary: $672,358

Overpaid by: 31%"**

Yep, "overpaid by: 31%" -- but the reality is even worse than that... worse than 31% if you can believe it. Understand that The Forward accepted JFNA's recitation of its "Institutional Revenue;" but you and I know that that amount includes Federations' allocations for which JFNA is nothing more than a pass-through -- in fact, were the amount of the allocations deducted to yield a true picture of JFNA annual revenue, the "overpayment" to Silverman would be closer to 78% -- if 31% is an egregious overpayment, a 78% overpayment must violate IRS standards to such an extent as to expose JFNA Officers and Board members to potential financial liability --damages and penalties.

Every best practice analysis of executive compensation decisions by non-profits mandates:

"Ensuring that the board has approved "reasonable and not excessive" compensation for the executive director/CEO is one of the fiduciary responsibilities of every nonprofit board. ("Are the assets of this nonprofit being used prudently and to advance the mission?") Boards that engage in an annual process of reviewing and approving the compensation of the executive director/CEO and that document this process in the minutes of board meeting(s), will be protecting their nonprofit (and themselves)" (emphasis added)." - See more at: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/executive-compensation#sthash.mFFXhyvv.dpuf

Perhaps I have missed something (but I doubt it very much) but at no time has the JFNA Board even been advised of the compensation decisions of the "Compensation Committee" -- yes, friends, the egregious amounts paid Silverman are not recommendations to the JFNA Board, they are decisions never communicated to the JFNA Board. This is part of JFNA "tradition" -- the tradition that only a core group of insiders know what the CEO is or will be paid. As the Council of Non-Profits has pointed out, there can be serious financial consequences for non-profit Board members for the payment of excess compensation to it corporate officers. (And, if they believe that they, like the compensation committee members, are somehow immunized from any personal liability because the "decisions" were made based upon"comparable compensation," they should seriously review the decisions of the Internal Revenue Service in a series of Rulings.

I know of a number of non-profit Board members who have resigned over compensation decisions on which they have never voted. You?

Rwexler 

Read more: http://forward.com/series/salary-survey/2015/jerry-silverman/jewish-federations-of-north-america/#ixzz4BCl9BLDL