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Another thing to consider is that just because an org is a non profit, does not mean the people working there are making social worker salaries. One of my aunts makes over $400K/yr as an administrator at a non profit, and she's still technically on the bottom half of the management totem pole.

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The general form of this is such an urban legend that there's even a Snopes page:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/charities.asp

That page, while refuting the specific claims of a few old chain letters, actually seems to support the parent's assertion that the executives of some charitable organisations get paid fairly well (several over $500k). Then again, I'm not sure what people expect--it is presumably difficult to retain the sort of people required to manage very large organisations without paying them something in the ballpark of what they could get at a for-profit.

The salaries can also be explained by the lack of active "shareholders" to keep the self-interest of management in check. If you can't find competent managers for less than $400k a year you need to get out more. Charitynavigator.org breaks down the admin costs etc of most charities. I wouldn't consider donating to one that devoted less than 85% to actual program expenses.

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