A study by GuideStar, the Urban Institute and the Foundation Center of salaries by nonprofits from 2001 to 2003 said the median compensation for top executives of foundations that gave more than $50 million a year was $525,516 — or more than what Shannon made in 2006.

Of note, the CEO of the charity for St. Jude's Research Hospital — a group similar in scope and purpose to Children's Miracle Network — was paid $528,971 in 2005

But a different GuideStar study looked at compensation by budget size. Expenditures by the Children's Miracle Network in 2006 were about $17 million. The study said nonprofit CEOs with budgets about that size were paid an average of $138,038 in 2002.

Hall said the Children's Miracle Network should not be compared to that group because most other nonprofits include in their budget the money they raise and distribute, while his charity does not.

Of note, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that the average salary of CEOs for any corporation (nonprofit or for-profit) in 2007 nationally was $151,370 — but that includes corporations both small and large.

Charity Navigator — which ranks charities for potential donors based, in part, on how much of what it raises actually goes for charitable programs — gives the Children's Miracle Network a three-star rating out of a possible four stars.

It says that means it "exceeds or meets industry standards and performs as well or better than most charities in its cause."

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