How much do executives at large ministries and Christian non-profits make?

More than you might think, according to a recent report by Ministry Watch.

The report is, by nature of our tax code, only able to report organizations that have not successfully applied to be treated as a church by the government, and the definition of “church” is famously quite loose. Therefore, we have situations where many ministries, such as Joyce Meyer Ministries, the Navigators, Willow Creek Association, etc., are not required to report a form 990 to the IRS, and thus, their internal financials are unavailable.

However, from what is publically available, there is plenty to raise eyebrows.

The Educational Media Foundation (K-Love’s parent company) is one of the organizations that appears most frequently on the list, with their president Jon Reeves earning well over $600,000 from the donation-reliant ministry. Numerous other executives appear on the list as well, and it seems that corporate positions at K-Love commonly pay in excess of $400,000. Over 50 positions in the company pay six figures.

K-Love, a network of Christian radio stations notorious for their high-pressure fundraising, is what some have called emotionally manipulative, where hosts have praised such behavior for giving money to K-Love rather than paying your bills. K-Love pulled in $231 million in donations, of which nearly 1/3 ($73 million) was profit during 2022. Last year, form 990 was publically available.

Franklin Graham III of Samaritan’s Purse Ministries and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association scored near the top of the list as well, for his salary of nearly $900,000 from Samaritan’s Purse, an organization that relies on donations to feed the poor and hungry and provide relief to victims of natural disaster. For at least ten years now, Graham’s high salary, which comes from humanitarian and religious donations, has been much higher than that of CEOs running comparable charities.

In 2013 and 2014, when Graham’s salary was starting to get some attention, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association successfully applied to become a “church” in the eyes of the U.S. government, so we do not know how much Franklin Graham received in compensation for his role in that organization for the past ten years, in addition to his compensation from Samaritan’s Purse.

The list was topped by David Cerullo of Inspiration Ministries, with compensation of $4.5 million.
There is nothing wrong with earning a lot of money – in fact, the Bible, in many ways, celebrates the idea of profit and increase, as long as it is done via honest means in the marketplace. What is at issue, however, is when people solicit donations in the name of Jesus, often from people who are struggling to get by, and then pay themselves hefty salaries from said donations. James 5 has some strong words for that sort of thing.

However, there are other non-profit executives who are doing it well, and we should celebrate those.

Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade), a Christian worldwide campus ministry, released financials audited by a third party for fiscal year 2022, in which Steve Sellers, their top executive, earned a salary of just $74,000. Cru brought in over $800 million worldwide that same year. According to a Washington Post article scrutinizing the difference between the highest and lowest-earning ministry executives, the highest-paid employee at Lutheran Charities received a salary of $180,000 in an organization worth $21 billion.

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