To the Food & Friends Community:

I am writing in response to an article in the July 17, 2008, The Washington Post concerning the compensation package of our Executive Director, Craig Shniderman.  Regrettably, the article contained a number of inaccuracies and omitted important facts concerning Food & Friends and the careful decision of the Board with respect to Craig’s compensation.

First, I want to thank our supportive community of committed donors and volunteers for your well-placed confidence in Food & Friends.  Next, I would like to reassure everyone that the determination of Craig’s salary followed a careful and painstaking process that included input from a highly-regarded national compensation consulting firm (James E. Rocco Associates, Inc.), an evaluation of comparable salaries for comparable positions and a review of the thirteen years of accomplishments by Craig since his hiring at Food & Friends.  The members of the Compensation Committee, the Executive Committee and the Board all were keenly aware of our fiduciary duties to the agency, its clients and its donors at the time we set Craig’s salary.  We believed then, and reaffirm now, that what we have agreed to pay Craig is appropriate, aligns with our compensation consultant’s recommendations and is in the best interests of Food & Friends and its future.  As stated by James. E. Rocco, “The Board of Food & Friends is to be commended for complying with good governance practices in closely monitoring executive compensation to assure it is appropriate and supports the recruitment and retention of high-caliber leaders.” 

Since 1995, when Craig joined us, Food & Friends has grown from the basement of a church, serving 995 people annually, to a service that provides more than 850,000 meals annually from a new $9 million kitchen and distribution center – all of which occurred, and in large part was made possible, through Craig’s tireless leadership.  Our budget has grown from $2.2 million to $8.2 million, allowing us to serve more people each and every year. 

Our agency, unlike some other local HIV/AIDS services and food-related charities (and a great many other nonprofit organizations) is financially stable and has exceedingly low administrative costs (including Craig’s salary) -- meaning that the vast majority of donated funds (78.9%) go to serving our clients.  In addition, unlike many similar agencies, Craig is responsible for the oversight of fundraising activity and plays the lead role in this aspect of our work. Thus, it might be suggested that the correct salary comparison between Food & Friends and other agencies is what they pay for the lead Development role and also for their Executive Director.

As the Post article itself acknowledged (although buried in the story), “Shniderman's salary is comparable to those of the top executives at some AIDS and food nonprofit groups in New York and San Francisco.”  Indeed, as our compensation consultant correctly advised us, the labor pool for executive directors of HIV/AIDS-related nutritional services is national, and the salaries paid elsewhere are the correct benchmark.

Contrary to the Post headline and the story that followed, Food & Friends is not “cutting back” its services.  A reduction in federal Ryan White funding has required our rate of growth in the number of clients we serve to slow, meaning that we have a small waiting list of new clients.  Happily, we are able to move people off the waiting list onto service in a relatively short period of time.  We continue to serve all our clients day-in, day-out all year long while our program continues to grow at a modest rate.  

We are not happy about the situation where new people needing our services have to wait, but that situation has nothing to do with what we pay Craig.  Moreover, we are confident it is a temporary situation and that with increased fundraising efforts (led by Craig) and a resumption of government funding to previous levels, we can resume our rate of growth that we have enjoyed throughout Craig’s tenure.  At Food & Friends, this temporary restriction on growth is a challenge we pledge to overcome with your continued support.

It is the nature of newspaper stories about executive salaries to try to be sensational, but there is nothing remotely sensational about the compensation the Board provides to our Executive Director.  If Food & Friends were in financial distress or was poorly managed, if the quality of service provided to our clients was poor or if our fundraising was faltering, that would be news.  But the news at Food & Friends remains good, thanks in very large part to Craig’s leadership.

We face challenges, for sure – rising fuel and food costs and a faltering economy.  My greatest concern is that the provocative newspaper article somehow affects the morale and support of our Food & Friends community, from staff to donors to clients.  I don’t think that will happen.  I am confident that those who take the time to learn the relevant facts and understand the contributions Craig has made, and will continue to make, will continue to support our urgent work in the community.

Food & Friends is extremely fortunate to have the dedicated and selfless service of Craig Shniderman as our Executive Director, and we are grateful that he has agreed to continue his service to us.  Craig is, justifiably, beloved by the staff, donors, volunteers, clients and community precisely because he gives his all for us.  I know that even if the misguided Post article causes Craig distress, he will continue to do his job as he always has, and he will be there for all of us.  For that, I know I am not alone in being extremely grateful to Craig for all he does for Food & Friends.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely yours.

Robert Hall III
President, Board of Directors
Food & Friends