💸 How Can They Justify This?
When Non-Profit CEOs Make Hundreds of Thousands While Supposedly Helping the Poor
By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
http://zipolita.com (under construction)
📌 Please share and speak out. We deserve answers.
It’s hard to wrap your head around it.
We live in a world where millions are struggling—homeless, hungry, desperate. Families rely on food banks. Seniors skip meals to pay rent. Children suffer in conflict zones. And yet, the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest charities that claim to “help the poor” are pulling in salaries over $600,000 per year.
🏢 Save the Children – But at What Cost?
Let’s talk about Save the Children USA, where the President & CEO earns $629,000 a year. Top executives take home $400K, $500K+. And in Canada, other large charity CEOs in the environmental and humanitarian sectors are making $200K–$350K annually.
Meanwhile, ordinary people are scraping by—if they’re lucky.
💔 The Unjust Reality: Rent vs Income
How is it that this is legal? Because it sure isn’t ethical.
- In cities like Vancouver, landlords and property managers have conspired to keep rents inflated, despite warnings from the Competition Bureau that this is illegal.
- The average rent for a modest 2-bedroom is now $3,000/month.
- Many people bring home only $2,400/month—if they have full-time jobs.
- And social assistance rates? Barely $1,000/month, if that.
How are people supposed to live? Eat? Stay warm? Have dignity?
❓ Where’s the Logic in This?
When you donate $10 to a charity, you expect it to go to a child in need, a hungry family, or someone displaced by war. You don’t expect it to fund luxury salaries or big-city boardroom perks.
And yet we’re told:
“We need to pay competitive salaries to attract top talent.”
Really? If you want to “serve the poor,” maybe start by showing you're willing to live simply—like the people you claim to help.
🧭 Time for Radical Transparency
Charities need to be held accountable—not just in dollars, but in ethics.
✅ How much of each donation goes directly to people in need?
✅ Why are executives making more than doctors, teachers, or frontline aid workers?
✅ What if we capped non-profit CEO salaries and reinvested in real solutions?
🧠 Reflection Questions
Ask yourself:
- Have you ever donated to a large charity without knowing how much their executives earn?
- Does it seem fair that a charity CEO can earn over $600,000 while the people they serve live on less than $1,000/month?
- What would you do differently if you were running a non-profit?
- Should there be a legal cap on non-profit executive pay?
- What grassroots groups do you trust more than big international NGOs?
✅ Mini Quiz
1. How much does the CEO of Save the Children USA make annually (as of 2023)?
A) $120,000
B) $325,000
C) $629,000
D) $1,000,000
→ ✅ Correct: C
2. What is the approximate monthly amount a person on social assistance receives in BC?
A) $500
B) $1,000
C) $2,000
D) $2,400
→ ✅ Correct: B
3. In cities like Vancouver, what is the average cost of a 2-bedroom rental?
A) $1,500
B) $2,200
C) $3,000
D) $3,800
→ ✅ Correct: C
4. What agency warned landlords that conspiring to raise rent is illegal?
A) BC Housing
B) Competition Bureau
C) CMHC
D) Vancouver Tenants Union
→ ✅ Correct: B
📬 Want to Take Action?
📌 Contact your MP (Member of Parliament – Federal)
Find yours here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en
📌 Contact your MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly – BC)
Find yours here: https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members
🌱 Support These Grassroots Groups Instead:
These organizations are closer to the people and often operate with much smaller budgets:
- Raise the Rates BC – https://www.facebook.com/RaiseTheRatesBC
- Vancouver Tenants Union – https://www.vancouvertenantsunion.ca
- Pivot Legal Society – https://www.pivotlegal.org
- Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) – https://www.carnegieaction.org
- Mutual Aid groups in your area – search Facebook or Instagram for "mutual aid + your city"
✊ Speak Out. Share. Ask Questions.
If this angers you—it should.
Let’s build a world where help goes where it’s needed.
Not into bloated salaries and fancy offices.
💬 Drop your thoughts in the comments.
📢 Share this with friends, community groups, or politicians.
💖 Be the change. Ask the hard questions.
🖋️ Written by Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
📷 Artist • Photographer • Advocate
💻 Blogs: AdventurezInMexico | TinaWinterlik
📱 Insta/Twitter/Pinterest: @zipolita
🌐 CV: https://zipolitazcv.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment