What the Dallas-based foundation spent on staff and administrative expenses included $20 million for advertising and promotion, $14 million for “office expenses’’ and more than $14 million for consulting and professional services.
Another $7 million was spent on contract labor and $3 million for travel. Komen officials did not immediate return calls and emails seeking comment on Monday morning.
Brinker, who also serves as chairman of Komen’s board of directors, traveled first class on airlines with the explicit permission of the board she chairs.
The expenses are disclosed in financial reports on the charity’s website. Komen operations have been under intense scrutiny since last week when a plan to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood triggered blistering criticism of Komen’s leadership.
The episode makes Komen the “new Coke of nonprofits,’’ according to Advertising Age, which said Komen’s decision and its rapid reversal “showed how a brand can boomerang from one of the most loved into one of the most reviled in a head-snapping two days.’’
Critics blamed politics for Komen’s attempt to cut off Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions, but not with funds from Komen. And some abortion opponents took credit for persuading Komen to drop Planned Parenthood.
But Brinker insisted Komen, which she founded in her sister’s memory 30 years ago, was merely trying to be a good financial steward, noting that Planned Parenthood is under investigation by a U.S. House member.
Even when Komen reversed itself and said Planned Parenthood funding could continue, some donors questioned the charity’s leadership. Recent turnover among top staff have been reported by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, and linked to discussions about cutting off Planned Parenthood.
But the turnover seems to have preceded those discussions, too; the latest financial report shows that Komen making severance payments to four people, three of them former staffers who each earned more than $100,000 annually.
Compensation for top officers, directors, trustees and other key employees was $2.7 million in 2010. Other salaries were listed at $17 million, not including millions more for payroll taxes, pension payments and other benefits.
The majority of Komen’s revenue appeared to come from contributions and grants. It also collected funds from affiliates and fundraising events.
Komen also funded more than $72 million in grants and aid within the U.S., often to medical centers for research and education.
Another $4 million was spent outside the U.S. in grants of varying sizes across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
