Executive Compensation for Christian Non-Profits
In today’s newsletter:
- Executive Compensation for Christian Non-Profits
- Market Watch, Economic Impact of Conflict in the Middle East, and Tesla
- Cultivating Discipline
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.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Market Watch, Economic Impact of Conflict in the Middle East, and Tesla
Market Watch,
The U.S. dollar had its strongest week since 2022, as the market starts to accept that rate cuts are unlikely to happen in June, and inflation continues to increase, with some even beginning to ask if the Euro could soon reach parity with the dollar. While there is demand for dollars, U.S. bonds are getting harder to sell, as the U.S.’s excessive government debt has begun to cause lackluster enthusiasm for T-bond sales. The Dow Jones rose on Monday as corporate earnings and retail sales figures overshadowed fears of the Iran-Israel conflict.
Tech and tech-heavy indices, such as Nasdaq and the S&P 500, remain at elevated levels. Crypto prices have tumbled over the last week but have recently clawed back some of their losses. Some commentators report that the crypto sell-off is related to escalating tensions in the Middle East, as riskier asset classes tend to fall out of favor during times of economic uncertainty. The March inflation report came out last week, reporting higher-than-expected year-over-year inflation of 3.5%, including elevated inflation in most energy sectors and transportation.
Economic Impact of Conflict in the Middle East
Last week, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and suicide drones at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s killing of one of Iran’s top generals in charge of relations with Hezbollah, the Iranian terrorist proxy group that Iran often uses to attack Israel. Israel was able to shoot down the vast majority of the missiles and drones with the help of the U.S. and other allies. This represents a significant escalation in the region, as Iran typically does not attack Israel directly. Iran says that the matter is now finished, but Israel has vowed a swift and deadly response to the provocation. The economic impact of this conflict varies according to who you ask and whether they believe the conflict will widen to outright war or not. Oil prices fell slightly in the wake of the attack, but the market as a whole seems to signal the belief that the war will not widen further. The Global Times, however, sees escalation as a likely possibility, leading to more inflation globally and a strong impact on energy markets, as nearly 1/3 of global oil production takes place in the Middle East.
Tesla
In 2021, Tesla had a stock price of over $400 and a market cap of $1.23 trillion, putting it on the short list of “most valuable companies in the world.” At present, however, Tesla is the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 and has seen tremendous loss of value as its stock price has fallen nearly 1/3 this year alone, and analysts say it may still fall further.
This past Sunday, Elon Musk announced to his staff that he would be laying off more than 10% of the Tesla workforce, citing “duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas.” Tesla is due to report earnings next week in what could prove to be a crucial quarter for the embattled electric vehicle manufacturer amid issues of insufficient demand and rising competition. Musk promised to unveil Tesla’s robotaxi program in October of this year, but increasingly, spectators and investors are suspicious of this being a short-term ploy to improve investor morale. In any case, Wedbush analyst and Tesla expert Dan Ives claims that robotaxi is not the answer for now and that the company should instead re-prioritize the more affordable Model 2 Tesla, which seems to have been placed on the back burner.
Sunday School
Q. What is a “remez,” and what does it have to do with reading the Bible?
A. A remez means a “hint,” and it is a teaching technique employed by Jesus, Paul, and others in the Bible, wherein a small section of scripture is either quoted or tangentially referenced, and you can then recall (or look up) that passage of scripture to pick up on the full meaning of what the teacher is trying to express.
“You were one of those kids who just shoved homework and papers directly into your backpack, weren’t you?”
TIPS & TRICKS
Cultivating Discipline
“Self-control” is one of the fruits of the spirit, and it is also quite possibly one of the most practical and helpful attributes that a businessperson can obtain in his pursuits. As we rise through the ranks in our respective businesses, or as we obtain more and more success, something strange happens:
We have more responsibility, and yet we also have more freedom.
When you were a low-level employee, you couldn’t just cancel a meeting, but now – you could. When you worked for someone else, you had to be in the office by a certain time, or you might get fired, but now – the boss makes the rules, and the boss is you.
As we ascend in our careers and personal lives, order is less imposed on us and more required from us if we want our companies, families, communities, and others who depend on us to thrive. For that, we require self-control, which is made up of discipline.
Here are two classic tips from psychologist and (Christian?) Jordan Peterson.
Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day
“The first thing you should do if you aren’t very industrious is discipline yourself,” Peterson says. “Get up at the same time… Get up early in the morning and get your things done.”
When we are juggling a lot of responsibilities, a travel schedule, and deadlines, we tend to play fast and loose with the regularity of our routines. Some of this is unavoidable. Some of it is manageable. But one thing we can almost always control is what time the alarm clock goes off – and if we can get into the habit of not changing our wake-up time according to whatever happened the day before, we will be starting our day with discipline every time we get up.
“You’ll have half your day done by the time other people haul [themselves] out of bed, so that’s a massive, massive advantage.”
Avoid decision-fatigue, the anxiety of uncertainty, and a feeling of failure when you wake up after a late night of working. Get back up at the same time in the morning, and do it all over again.
Make Your Bed
This advice became a meme some years ago because it sounds funny in isolation. “How can ‘make your bed’ be a life-changing principle for someone?”
Again, it starts with the decisions you make at the very start of your day that impact your mindset throughout the rest of it. If you start every day by neglecting a basic task, by allowing that chaos to remain in your bedroom rather than creating order, it will be easy to continue making that same decision over and over again.
“I don’t need to organize my files today.”
“The client can wait another week.”
“The staff needs to be straightened out… but maybe they’ll solve it themselves.”
You get the idea.
But when you train yourself in the mundane aspects of life (like making your bed right when you get up), that training will create positive inertia in your thinking process. You will be more likely to just go ahead and organize what needs to be organized, have hard conversations right when they need to be had, and stop procrastinating on that project that you don’t really want to do but has to be done.
“It’s a microcosm,” Peterson says. “Take those microcosms seriously… You might as well start with what’s right in front of you; it’s a lot harder than it looks. Because to clean up your room means to accept that it’s actually necessary for you to take that little bit of chaos that’s in front of you, that chaotic potential, and cast it into habitable order. Then you have the right attitude toward it.”
Don’t Knock It Till You Try It
Navigating this life successfully really does take the faith of a child, but oftentimes, we feel above that sort of thing. We want the secret sauce, the advanced moves, or something that pays homage to our dignity, our net worth, or our accomplishments.
And yet, the greatest among us understand that there is no secret sauce, no magic spell, and no easy button – just a dedication to the fundamentals day in and day out.
“Gentlemen,” Vince Lombardi said to his professional football team on day one of training camp, “this is a football.”
He wasn’t being tongue-in-cheek, and neither is Jordan Peterson. If we want to have discipline in our finances, in our risk-assessment, in our relationship-management, education, or work performance, we need to start with the humble, simple principles that Peterson so helpfully focuses on.
Wake up at the same time every day, and make your bed first thing. Then, see what happens to your mindset at work.
Quick Hits
- Pastor Mark Driscoll was kicked off stage at a Christian men’s conference after criticizing the strange Las Vegas style performance that opened the event and reportedly featured a male stripper, drawing praise and criticism online.
- Fox News Reports the top Christian colleges and Universities in the U.S., featuring Wheaton, Biola, and others.
- iPhone sales slump and Samsung regains the top slot in smartphone sales.
- The Wall Street Journal reports a big contraction in the residential solar panel industry.
Guess the Prompt
Our “Executive Compensation” graphic was generated using AI prompts. Guess the prompt for your chance to win Sent To Win gear. Just reply to this email with your best guess.
For Kingdom Leaders, By Kingdom Leaders
Bringing Kingdom-minded leaders like you fresh perspectives and insights on business, finance, and leadership trends.
