Yes, experience and deep knowledge are clear conflicts of interest. Good idea to have the entire ARRL staff rotate out, say, every 2 years so those at HQ are always just a page ahead of Know-It-Nothings still on the street.
Looking at how the ARRL spends money is easy: they are a 501C.3 and their tax exempt status means their financials are all out in the open for public viewing. That being said, their high paid executives do very little to earn over a quarter million plus some a year for their 40 hours of reported labor. I just don't see what I get for supporting an org that sells books and publications, many of which have material that can be found online for less or free, and do very little to promote amateur radio other than their overblown whackerism of "when all else fails" and the orange vest crowd claiming to be "emergency services". I see a lot of money being made off members and many volunteers who do the lion's share of real, actual work, and 5 top paid excu-bums who enjoy living off their membership. If you're okay with helping a small handful of rich men north of Richmond enjoy their second wind post first retirement, so be it. I'd much rather spend $35 a year to support small businesses like QRZ who do much more for the ham community at large and for less.
Yes, the financials are open for all to read, the latest reporting available is 2021: https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/066000004_202112_990_2023020720934874.pdf The executives are making $249k, $218k, $153k, and $150k per year, and are reporting averages of 37-40hrs of work per week (your quote made it sound as if they were working 40hrs for the year). See pages 18 and 42 of the PDF. These are not exorbitant wages for executive level officers working full-time. I'm not personally a member of the ARRL, but I appreciate their advocacy with the FCC, and the quality of the materials they produce. They helped me get licensed certainly, and it's nice to have a semi-official representation for newcomers to find and feel supported by.
I'm an advocate for the ARRL and have always supported their efforts, particularly in spectrum defense. We have to band together in order to accomplish anything on such a global scale. One surprise I had in the last year, however, was learning that Bob is the man who put the heavy hand on other organizations providing online learning content for amateur radio. I've never met him personally, and he seems like a great guy here, but I sure hope that Bob and others in executive leadership at ARRL will always be welcoming to new ventures in ham education. As a minor league provider of ham content, I wouldn't want to have that same call from Mr. Inderbitzen. Dave, W7DGJ
Which would be the other ones, exactly? I mean, there are some, but do they do lobbying for us on capitol hill?
That sounds like a lot of sour grapes. Organizations don't run themselves. Do you know what most execu-bums earn? And in Connecticut???
i do not care for the ARRL online pdf viewer - it is awkward to use ... just my opinion... i fear this may be my last year of membership after 20 years
Every organization with a website is a "National" organization. Every person with an email address or a telephone can be a lobbyist. The best advocate for ham radio is the individual licensee. About 20% of hams belong to ARRL. Do the math.
Considering the size and scope of the organization I'd say they are paid about right. Attracting talent takes money. Given how much it takes to live where they do...it's probably pretty average for an executive. Especially, when you think of length of time in service. Consider there are 757,610 hams in the US if 20 percent of them are ARRL members then that's about 151,522 operators. So in reality each of us pays them about 5 to 6 bucks a year? Something like that? Could be worse I guess. We are all in this together. The ARRL is only one spoke in the wheel. There are a lot of other great organizations to join as well that promote our hobby. Join more than one if you can.
Facts speak for themselves. My county manager who manages the largest county in Georgia draws less than the CEO of ARRL. He is also at work 60-75 hours a week. I see him everyday. What exactly does the ARRL do other than sell books and magazines?
That's all fine, but what work are they actually doing? Plenty of 501C/3s exist where CEOs and board don't draw fat salaries. 249K a year for a 40 hour work week is pretty good money even in today's economy. The ARRL does exactly what to serve the public? Please save the ARES whackerism for another thread. I mean, let's be real, the ARRL exists to produce publications the same way QRZ does. QRZ does a much better job and they aren't a 501c.3 but I will bet you my paycheck the CEO does more than 40 hours a week and nets less salary than the ARRL CEO does.
We have a winner. The FCC NPRMs all have public comment and each licensee can do their part and add meaningful input to proposed rule making process. It carries as much weight as the ARRL's overpayed executives. Most of the work is done by volunteers while the old man's club do "executive" work for 40 hours a week hanging out. If one thinks the ARRL has some lobbying power going up against telecom cartels fighting for our radio spectrum, one is living in a dream world. AT&T and Verizon blow in a week on lobbying what is the entire yearly budget of the ARRL. Let that sink in.
I’ve been an executive headhunter for non-profits for nearly 40 years. Salaries at ARRL executive level are fair and a bargain to the membership. I can’t say anything about “hours worked” as that is person-dependent. With regards to QRZ, the team is involved in a GIANT project and 40 hours a week would be a minimum number I'm sure.
