The president of the United Way, in Charlotte, N.C., received an increase of more than $700,000 in retirement benefits for the 2007 fiscal year, reports The Charlotte Observer. The annual compensation for the president, Gloria Pace King, is now more than $1.2-million, with her benefits package rising from $108,590 to $822,507.

The organization said the increase is part of a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan for certain managers, with the increase in benefits covering an 18-month period, as the plan is being applied retroactively to the beginning of 2006. Additionally, the plan may include payments promised in a 2001 agreement that were not previously delivered, the article noted.

The agency’s board chairman defended the increase as deserved; Ms. Pace King helped the Charlotte United Way raise a record $44-million last year.

But Aaron Dorfman, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a charity watchdog group, countered: “Nonprofit executives deserve fair compensation packages, but this is outrageous.”

As comparison, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, which raised $69-million last year, paid its leader $254,487 in salary and contributed $75,826 for benefits, according to the agency’s tax filings, the article said.