Waste of the Day: Maine Nonprofit CEO Gets Big Payout
Topline: The Gulf of Maine Research Institute said the loss of up to $4 million in federal funding this year will affect its community work, but that’s as the nonprofit has been spending significant portions of its budget on high compensation for its top executives. Tax returns show that former President Don Perkins collected $737,000 in the six months before he retired.
Key facts: The research institute’s mission is to support Maine’s fishing economy and prepare for the future effects of climate change on the region. It received $10.4 million in government funding in fiscal year 2024 and raised $7.8 million privately.
The same year, the institute spent $8.3 million on payroll — including a record $2.1 million for senior officers and directors — and $603,000 on travel.
Perkins’ compensation included $360,205 in salary, $221,562 for “other compensation,” a $50,000 bonus and more. The governor of Maine only makes $70,000.
The current president, Glenn Prickett, made $217,948 in nine months. Three others earned more than $200,000.
Perkins had been collecting large payouts for years, including in 2020, when the research institute received a $1.1 million Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government. The loans were meant to help businesses struggling with their payroll during the Covid-19 pandemic, but Perkins earned $538,343 that year, and the nonprofit’s assets increased by almost $4 million.
Perkins earned $977,000 in 2022 and $728,000 in 2023.
Despite the payroll expenses, the nonprofit has blamed the federal government for interrupting its work after the Trump administration terminated an Environmental Protection Agency grant and temporarily froze a Department of Energy grant. The research institute told the Maine Monitor they have cancelled their “energy solutions program,” which was studying the concerns fishermen had with offshore wind projects.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Supporting quote: A spokesperson from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute told OpenTheBooks that its salaries are “benchmarked against regional and national peers to determine the market rate to hire a high-caliber CEO. Competitive pay and benefits allow us to retain our staff, without whom we could not fulfill our nonprofit mission to serve fishing communities, Maine students and their teachers, local seafood businesses, and the many other communities who rely on us for support.”
Background: In the past two years, federal grants to the research institute have paid for “storytelling assets” for local restaurants to “boost consumption of seafood” for $222,000. Other grants included $183,000 for “disadvantaged working waterfront communities to have meaningful involvement in the offshore wind development process in the Gulf of Maine” and $182,000 for a six-week program called “ecological and social change in a rapidly warming ocean region.”
Summary: Opinions on the government’s cuts to nonprofit funding are varied, but most taxpayers would likely agree that taxpayer money should not help fund huge CEO compensation packages.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
We're proud to make our journalism accessible to everyone, but producing high-quality investigative pieces still comes at a cost.
That's why we need your help. By making a contribution today, you'll be supporting RealClearInvestigations and ensuring that we can keep providing in-depth reporting that holds the powerful accountable.
Donate now and help us continue to publish distinctive journalism that makes a difference. Thank you for your support!
Support RealClearInvestigations →
