Are Planned Parenthood Executives Overpaid?

(The battle between “pro-choice” and “pro-life” advocates is ideological and seemingly never-ending. This blog post does not take a position on abortion rights - not because the author is unaware of the passionate arguments from both sides, but because the battlefield chosen for this skirmish lies in a landscape watched carefully by the author: nonprofit executive compensation.)

The American Life League recently issued its “2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation,” which has received attention not only from media sources that oppose abortion rights but, this year, from Republican Congress members who have called upon Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” to investigate the “outrageous salaries” highlighted in the report. The report criticizes six-figure salaries paid to CEOs of Planned Parenthood affiliates and notes an 11% increase in their salaries from 2020 to 2023.

Because most nonprofit organizations, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, publish their CEOs' salaries on publicly available tax forms, nonprofit executives often come under attack for compensation that may seem high to the average worker. However, nonprofit CEO compensation, like that of for-profit leaders, varies according to the size, location, complexity, and field of the organization, as well as its performance and outcomes. While the report criticizes an 11% pay increase for Planned Parenthood affiliate CEOs between 2020 and 2023, it omits the fact that the Social Security Administration’s National Average Wage Index rose by 19.8% in that same period.

Nonprofit organizations are businesses granted tax-exempt status by federal and state governments. While many are small “mom and pop” organizations without paid staff or complex budgets, others are multimillion-dollar entities with thousands of employees operating in heavily regulated sectors. CEOs of large nonprofits may earn millions of dollars while guiding their organizations through regulatory, social, and financial challenges in pursuit of missions that benefit society.

Regardless of whether one agrees that women should be able to obtain legal and safe abortions in the United States, Planned Parenthood operates facilities across the country that serve thousands of women and families each month. Running such a network is analogous to overseeing a chain of hospitals and clinics. Compared to leaders of similarly sized healthcare organizations, their compensation is modest.

In addition to the business and regulatory challenges they face, Planned Parenthood executives also encounter personal risk. Organizations like the American Life League publish the names of Planned Parenthood affiliate leaders while accusing them of “murdering... preborn children.” Leaders of Planned Parenthood have been known to receive death threats for their work. That’s not a typical occupational hazard for nonprofit CEOs.

Is the CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America overpaid at $904,014 in 2023, while leading an organization with $378 million in revenue? Consider that the CEO of a hospital in upstate New York earns over $1 million to lead a $343 million operation. In Connecticut, another hospital CEO was paid $995,000 in a year when the hospital reported $330 million in revenue, despite stepping down just four months into the fiscal year.

I’m choosing not to name these individuals because they do not deserve to be singled out. I merely searched for hospitals in the Northeast with revenues comparable to the Planned Parenthood Federation, and they came up first in my research.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Susan B. Anthony List (a leading anti-abortion organization) was paid nearly $500,000, even though the group generated only $22.1 million and employed just 67 people. Americans United for Life, with only 18 employees, paid two CEOs a combined total of nearly $350,000, more than 10% of their total revenue of just over $3 million. Just as the leaders of Planned Parenthood deserve compensation reflecting the difficulty of their positions, the leaders of their ideological opponents are entitled to high-level salaries for their high-level, demanding jobs.

Of course, every organization is unique, and each board determines appropriate CEO compensation based on its circumstances. Nonprofit boards have added incentive to ensure compensation is reasonable, since board members may be personally responsible for up to $20,000 if the IRS determines the CEO salary is unreasonable.

Running a complex, politically fraught, and high-profile organization like Planned Parenthood is no small feat. It requires exceptional leadership and resilience. The salaries cited in the American Life League’s report are reasonable and reflect the challenges of the position.