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MPetrelis
The latest IRS 990 forms for both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and its subsidiary nonprofit, the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, were released last week and I’ve gone over them and excerpted revenue and salary information to share with you. You can find the SFAF tax returns at SFAF tax return.

The Pangaea 990 form is available from the agency, if you call them at 415-581-7000.

Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that executive salaries at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation rose again. The avarice of the people running the foundation knows no limits.

However, what I do find shocking is that the foundation’s Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation pays its director, Dr. Eric Goosby, a former administrator for HIV/AIDS programs under Donna Shalala when she headed the Department of Health and Human Services, a cool quarter of a million dollars. How the executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation allowed anyone associated with her two AIDS nonprofits to earn substantially more than her amazes me.

Direct services for people living with HIV and AIDS are facing budget shortfalls, but don’t expect the greedy executives at these two nonprofit foundations to cut back on their excessive salaries because their priorities have always been executives first, patients last.

Keep in mind, as you read these salary levels, that the Wall Street Journal on July 9, 2002, reported that the head of the global AIDS fund, “Dr. [Richard] Feachem also startled some UN officials with his salary package of at least $200,000 a year.”

Imagine how those UN authorities would react if they knew how much the executives of Pat Christen’s two AIDS foundations were making.

I hope I live to see the day when the salaries of AIDS executives are cut and the savings passed along to AIDS patients.

Without further ado, here are the numbers. Read ‘em and weep.
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San Francisco AIDS Foundation
IRS 990 form for FY 2001

Total revenue: $22,677,609

Pat Christen, executive director
$212,033

Lance Henderson, finance director
$174,054

David Taylor, human resources director
$149,588

John Vasconcellos, development director
$136,927

Brian Byrnes, programs director
$125,265

Susan Haikalis, director of client services
$124,012

Subtotal: $921,879

Contributions to employee benefit plans:
$14,959, for each of the six directors.

Subtotal: $89,754

Total: $1,011,633

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Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation
(An affiliate of the SF AIDS Foundation)
IRS 990 form for FY 2001

Total revenue: $5,923,598

Dr. Eric Goosby, chief executive officer
$166,672

Goosby also received payment for program design services, and that amount was:
$83,340

Subtotal for Goosby: $250,012

Barbara Lawson, project director
$143,163

Rene Durazzo, international programs director
$89,124

Deborah Von Zinkernagel, program design
$143,556

Dr. Allen Ronald, program services
$132,500

Dr. Merle Sande, program services
$120,694

Paul Bouey, program design
$83,340

Subtotal: $962,389

Plus, the top three directors each received $17,277 in contributions to employee benefit plans, for a subtotal of: $51,831

Total: $1,014,220


Just remember one thing: when you donate your hard-earned bucks to the SFAF beg-a-thons, through events like the Lifecycle AIDS bike ride to LA that kicks off this weekend, or the AIDS Walk in July in Golden Gate Park, part of your donation is used to pay these high salaries.

SFAF contributors should find other AIDS groups to donate to; ones that pay a decent salary to the top folks, but also deliver more direct services and care to patients.

The waste and avarice at SFAF is shameful, and they deserve all the bad publicity they get. Heck, the SFAF executives need to be taken to task in public about their sky-high salaries, and persuaded to take pay cuts.

BTW, government grants SFAF received in FY 2002 was a total of $5,312,407.

But that figure is not broken down by source; local, state or federal government agency.

You can rest assured that a portion of the $5M-plus amount is from the city's General Fund.

Let me also remind folks that the executive director of SFAF once believed nonprofit sunshine could be deadly, according to a news story.

Tuesday, November 25, 1997
SF Chronicle
[snip]
>
The proposal was prompted by allegations that some AIDS patients have been turned away by nonprofit AIDS health organizations without proper explanation -- and sometimes due to political motivations, according to Jeff Sheehy of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Democratic Club. ``Nonprofits that provide health care on behalf of the city are wearing the city hat, and provide essential services that people need to live,'' said Sheehy, who accused the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Shanti and the San Francisco AIDS health clinic of unfairly terminating clients from AIDS treatment. ``They ought to have to follow the same process of the city.'' But the accusations were swiftly and vehemently denied by representatives of nonprofits, who said Ammiano's proposal would divert both crucial funding and attention away from their first mission -- saving lives. ``The purpose of the foundation is very clear and sweeping -- to end the HIV epidemic and human suffering,'' said Pat Christen, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. ``I do not believe lengthy discussions around the sunshine ordinance will further that mission.'' While public and private institutions must work in partnership, forcing nonprofit groups ``to mimic the government'' would reduce their ability to respond swiftly to events, Christen said. She also said the proposal would force the agencies to take fewer risks in dealing with the public health crisis, and require them to divert funding to deal with bureaucratic responses instead of care. ``That would be literally deadly,'' she said.
[snip]

While I am no medical professional, and can't state it with total certainty, I seriously doubt that the San Francisco sunshine ordinance has killed a single client of the SFAF.

Here's Chrisen's listed pay over the years, which includes both salary and payments to her benefit plan.

FY 1994
$134,137

FY 1995
$162,294

FY 1996
$176,742

FY 1997
$197,014

FY 1998
$201,320

FY 1999
$214,390

FY 2000
$221,288

FY 2001
$226,992

Total: $1,534,177

With a salary like that, the nonprofit world has been very profitable for at least one executive director. Avarice is alive and well at Pat Christen's AIDS Foundation.
canmark
There was a recent article in Toronto's free weekly paper Now on how the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) spends less than 40% of the money it takes in on programs and services, the lowest percentage of all the local AIDS organizations.

Their fund-raising events include the high-profile Fashion Cares, which annual features headliners like Mary J. Blige, RuPaul, Sarah Brightman, etc.

SF is not alone in this problem.
ung
I have an even better example of these "non profit" sham artist/profiteers.

Last month while overseas, I saw in the London Telegraph a story of a charity fund raising gala. An event with many celebrities who cared about the cause and duly volunteered (all of them) their time and efforts to be present and raise the funds.

Imagine these celebrities surprise when they discovered that every single penny of the funds raised went to the organizers' pockets. Their explanation? "the costs were more than we thought and we worked very hard to put this event together."

THAT! in a nutshell illustrates the main problem. These professional scammers (like Pallota and others) have their #1 priority as being the fundraising. while for those of us who give time and money, it is the charity and cause itself which is #1.
MPetrelis
Hey CanMark:

Thanks so much for the link to that incredible story about the Canadian AIDS charity and how much of their budget reaches clients for direct services.

It saddens me to see how badly managed AIDS groups are and that AIDS patients don't see enough of the funds raised on their behalf meet their needs.

We need greater scrutiny of AIDS groups both in the US and around the world. AIDS patients deserve more transparency and accountability from AIDS nonprofits.

[ June 12, 2003, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]
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