I disagree. $500K (and some degree less) is a perfectly comfortable living in even an expensive US city. Not paying them millions is only "punished financiall

I disagree. $500K (and some degree less) is a perfectly comfortable living in even an expensive US city. Not paying them millions is only "punished financially" if being rich well beyond comfortable is more important to them than the mission of the non-profit. This "doesn't translate" only to people who have zero business leading non-profits. (Incidentally, capping compensation is an awesome cut filter, to eliminate people who are poorly aligned with the mission.) Sure, there are classes of people who see something like non-profit CEO as their angle for wealth and status to which they feel entitled, when they can't get the for-profit CEO job they'd prefer. Not only are they innately misaligned with the mission, but they are also completely out of touch with the vast bulk of the people who non-profits typically are supposed serve. Keep them away from non-profits.