Non-profitYMCASanDiego

San Diego YMCA's Form 990 (tax form) is not on their website
March 2014

From Charity Navigator:
Compensation of Leaders     (FYE 06/2012)
$544,172 Baron Herdelin-Doherty President, CEO

Lisa and Baron Herdelin-Doherty,
president and CEO of the YMCA
of San Diego County at the 22nd
Annual Paul Ecke, Jr. Poinsettia Ball
held Dec. 8 [2012] at the Magdalena
Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas.
CREDIT: Cathy Hendrie

$187,500 Richard A. Collato
Former President, CEO
[after taking huge retirement benefits]

Rob Sauvajot
Regional Vice President (March 2014)
YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY
8881 Dallas Street, La Mesa, CA 91942

But it turns out that the San Diego YMCA
is actually not bad when you compare it
to other charities:

Charities Performing Similar Types of Work

Highly Rated

YMCA of San Diego County - CA 61.77 4 stars
YWCA of Seattle - King County - Snohomish County - WA 54.83 3 stars
The McGaw YMCA - IL 58.28 3 stars
Channel Islands YMCA - CA 59.62 3 stars
YMCA of the Rockies - CO 59.82 3 stars

Compare These Charities (Highly Rated)
Most Viewed

YMCA of San Diego County - CA     61.77 4 stars
Armed Services YMCA - VA       65.99 4 stars
YWCA USA - DC                     34.64   1 star
YMCA of Greater Boston - MA       58.81 3 stars
YMCA of Greater Seattle - WA   67.63 4 stars
The 92nd Street Y - NY            61.13 4 stars

Phone call from Jennifer Pillsbury March 24, 2014

Jennifer ignored my request for a call-back until my blog post about the YMCA
apparently got enough attention to earn me a small amount of regard from the
higher-ups at her organization.

I told Jennifer that the YMCA should have a drop-in rate like Weight Watchers. She
said, "We are a membership organization." (She repeated that several times before
her surprise statement at the end.)

I said yes, I know, but you could be more responsive to people's financial needs.
You're kind of smug, with your non-profit status. You don't have to be as responsive
as Weight Watchers because you have donors that are getting a subsidy from Uncle
Sam for the money they give to you. I asked for a written response. She said she'd
send it.

Then she started explaining to me about how virtuous the YMCA is. I agreed that they
are better than non-profits like Comic-Con and the National Football League, but that
they do exist in part to make their president wealthy while paying very little to other
employees.

She started in again talking about how they give scholarships.

I said I'd just like a response to my suggestion.

Then, suddenly, she said, "We have a drop-in rate."

I said, "Why didn't I ever hear about that?"

[I'd been paying membership dues of $38 a month since last July, and attending very
few classes due to injuries, scheduling conflicts, and a 6-week trip. If I'd let my dues
lapse, I'd have to pay a whole new fee to rejoin. They sort of get you hooked. You
can't take a break or they punish you. It seems to me that I paid a bit over $50 to join,
but apparently the fee has been raised. Here's what the website says today:
           Joining Fee        Monthly Fee
Adult        $100                $53
Single Parent Family
              $100                $59
Family      $100                $84]

She said, "It's on our website and in our literature. And if you ask about our drop-in
fee, we'll tell you about it."

It's like a Catch 22. They only tell you about it if you already know about it.

I called the YMCA and learned that the drop-in rate is $10. I sure could have saved a
lot of money (hundreds of dollars!) if I'd known that!