Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Salaries at Jews for Jesus

A few years ago, a newspaper published the salary of the head of Campus Crusade for Christ. It was $65,000 per year. This made me think about how much Jews for Jesus missionaries are paid. No one outside the organization knows how much they make, except for the IRS. I wonder if it true that the salaries at J for J are way out of line for the kind of work they do? I'm especially thinking ofthe senior missionaries and the top brass.

A few years ago the director of United Way had to resign when it was learned that he was making $450,000 per year. Everyone was outraged that a non profit organization was using its money this way. But no one blinks twice when Benny Hinn or Jimmy Swaggert or any number of other ministry leaders takes in exhorbitant salaries. Would the little old ladies who are giving their dimes and quarters to J for J be upset if they learned that the executive director is making $300,000 per year? (this is my guess since I have no idea how much he makes).

A few years ago 60 Minutes came to investigate Jews for Jesus. Moishe Rosen made a big deal about the fact (?) that he opened up JFJ's books to 60 minutes, they looked them over, and then went away saying, "there's nothing here for us to report on." Were the JFJ accounts really that boring? My guess is that 60 Minutes is used to rather large salaries in the world of television, so even if Moishe was making $200,000 per year (again, my guess),that probably seemed like nothing to them. (Even though it seems like an awful lot to most of us).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The following statement is posted on Jews for Jesus' entry at GuideStar.org, a free database that discloses the finances of almost all nonprofit organizations: "This organization is not required to file an annual return with the IRS because it is a church."

However, you can get more detailed financial information about Jews for Jesus from http://www.ministrywatch.com/

And even Jews for Jesus itself has disclosed some of its financial data on the Web, at http://www.jfjonline.org/about/finances.htm

But nowhere do we find the salary of the executive director or senior staff.

Unless.... you happen to be a financial supporter of this organization. If you are, you are entitled to request (and receive) a detailed financial statement of Jews for Jesus. I'm not a financial supporter of Jews for Jesus, so I've never seen this information. Does it contain specific salary information? One can only hope that it does, in the interests of full disclosure.

Anonymous said...

I know that it just the way of the world, but most HQ executive staff have very nice in-San Francisco homes. When I worked there, many of the long time adminstrative staff lived in a nice trailer park just south of the city.

During the mid-nineties salaries were frozen without even a cost-of-living increase. Coincidentally all the senior staff were promoted from positions like "Tenured Missionary" to "Deputy Commissioner".

Much of their financial situation strikes me as "legal but not ethical"

Anonymous said...

I just came across a posting by Moishe Rosen on one of the JFJ bulletin boards where he made the following statement:

"At the same time [Yechiel Eckstein] is begging money through numerous infomercials his benefit Package he has allowed himself is about $380.000.00 according to his latest 990 submission. Anyone who raises funds for one thing and does another with the funds raised should be examined. In my opinion his huckstering is as bad as the worst Televangelist."

I don't know how much Moishe Rosen made at the height of his career with JFJ, since JFJ does not make public their IRS 990 form. They claim to be a "church" and thus exempt from filing this form. I do not know how much David Brickner makes. But I daresay that many JFJ supporters and contributors would be surprised to learn how much the top executives at Jews for Jesus make. One hint is that Moishe Rosen lives in a very big house in a very expensive part of San Francisco.

I think it is a bit hypocritical for Jews for Jesus to criticize Eckstein for his exhorbitant salary and then at the same time refuse to release their own numbers.

Anonymous said...

My husband is on staff and I can tell you that we are not making it every month and actually qualify for food stamps.

Anonymous said...

I am thinking of sending in an offering through mail but got curious about how the money will be spent. I understand the staff may be underpaid (as stated by wife of one of the workers for JFJ in one of the comments.) However, what I am most interested in knowing is how much their CEO is being paid. Based on the comments so far, I will need to excercise some caution and do a bit more research before making a donation.