[tonyz]

I recently sat on the board of a sizable non-profit for a two year term - it was an eye opener. Although I sat on many committees and rose to vice-chair - I politely declined an invitation for another two year term.

Upwards of 95% of the funding for this organization was from federal sources - to the tune of $27 million+ dollars per year - who knows what it is now - this was a few years ago.

IMO, the waste and conflicts of interest were astounding. Not many on the board (bank presidents, partners in accounting firms, CEO of local United Way, CEO of high tech firms, etc. etc.,) wanted to ask tough questions - go along to get along seemed to be the mantra - along with a fair amount of political posturing.

The Executive Director was taking in 6 figures annually - some raises for cronies were on the order of 25% annually. This was during the same period of time that private sector folks were receiving 3% on average and state government folks were getting zero.

The travel expenses (in state) for this Executive Director were approaching 6 figures annually.

Many of the longer term directors had (at the time) undisclosed contracts with the not-for-profit.

I, too, was approached by the Executive Director to perform some "consulting" for a sum that was less than the amount that required disclosure to the board - but was not exactly chump change. I declined.

This Executive Director "retired" shortly after my two year term ended - and after some tough questions were asked.

It was astonishing to me how this organization saw fit to spend other peoples money.