> I am not familiar with what is typical in American NPO's but I can't help but feel that my money will not be spent on the right stuff. I would agree with you

> I am not familiar with what is typical in American NPO's but I can't help but feel that my money will not be spent on the right stuff. I would agree with you there. Sadly the art of troughing is a well known feature of larger NPOs. That's why (IMHO) people should never blindly donate to NPOs without first taking a quick look at their financial accounts to get a feel for how much troughing is going on. Honestly, if I had my way, I would make it law to have a simple-to-read one-page summary of that data for every NPO. I also do not buy the oft-cited argument "well, we have to attract talent by paying them 'competitively' ". Well no. If the "talent" wants a fat paycheck, they can go work in the private sector. If they are going to work at an NPO, then they should WANT to work for the NPO, not just see it as another spot for their CV. In many (most?) cases they will be in charge of an army of well-meaning unpaid volunteers, its not a good look for the C-suite to roam around in private cars, businssess-class flights, have fancy "away days" etc. etc.