How Much Does the ASPCA CEO Make? Matthew Bershadker Earned $1.2M in 2023

Every time someone sees an ASPCA commercial, a fair question tends to follow: where does all that money actually go? Part of the answer sits with the salary of the person running the whole operation. So how much does the CEO of ASPCA make? As of 2023, Matthew Bershadker took home $1,203,267 in total compensation: a $750,000 base salary, roughly $276,000 in bonuses, and $47,859 in benefits. That number draws attention, and it deserves some context. Here is the full story of how he got there.

ASPCA CEO Matthew Bershadker: Early Life and the First Steps in His Career

Bershadker grew up with animals around him but didn't take a straight path into animal welfare. He studied communications at Ohio University, earning his Bachelor of Arts there. His first real professional role was at Share Our Strength, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit fighting childhood hunger, where he worked from roughly 1995 to 1997. It wasn't a glamorous start, but it taught him something that stuck: how mission-driven organizations raise money, build public support, and keep donors coming back.

After that he moved into consulting, joining ICF Consulting from around 1997 to 2001, a management firm working with government and corporate clients. He also spent time at RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. None of these jobs were in animal welfare, but all of them built the fundraising, communications, and strategic thinking skills that would later define his work. His first paychecks were modest, well within the range of typical entry-level nonprofit and consulting roles in the late 1990s.

Joining the ASPCA in 2001: How He Climbed the Ladder Over 12 Years

The turning point came after a visit to an overwhelmed, underfunded animal control facility that shook him enough to change direction entirely. He enrolled at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School, earned his MBA in 2001, and that same year joined the ASPCA as Senior Director of Partnership Marketing. It wasn't the top job, not even close, but it was the beginning of a 12-year climb through almost every layer of the organization.

From 2001 to 2004 he handled business development and partnership marketing. He then moved into the VP of Development role, overseeing fundraising strategy, major gifts, planned giving, and capital campaigns. After that came Senior VP of Anti-Cruelty, the division that runs field investigations, puppy mill busts, dog fighting raids, and disaster response. Each step brought him closer to leading the whole organization, and his compensation grew alongside it, though exact figures from that pre-CEO period were never publicly disclosed.

ASPCA CEO Salary From $800K to $1.2M: The Numbers Year by Year

In May 2013 the ASPCA board named Bershadker President and CEO, and he officially took the role on June 1 of that year. From that point his pay rose steadily. In 2017 his base salary was $800,000. It dipped to $770,000 in 2018, then climbed to $840,000 in 2019 and $852,231 in 2020. The 2021 figure came in at $712,397, reflecting some variation in bonus structures that year. By 2022 total compensation had reached $1,117,171, and then $1,203,267 in 2023.

Add it all together and from 2017 through 2023 Bershadker received approximately $7 million in total compensation. In 2020 the ASPCA also set up a 457(F) Deferred Compensation Plan for the CEO position, adding $50,000 per year that vests on a rolling five-year basis. His actual long-term earnings are higher than the annual figures alone suggest.

For context: the average nonprofit CEO in the United States earns around $123,000 a year. Bershadker's pay runs more than six times that amount. But the ASPCA isn't a small operation. In 2023 the organization raised $379 million, employed 1,432 people, and held $553 million in net assets. During his tenure it has relocated over 100,000 shelter animals and completed 500,000 spay/neuter surgeries in New York City alone.

How Much Does the CEO of ASPCA Make Now and What Comes Next

The 2023 IRS Form 990 is the most recent public filing, showing $1,203,267 in total compensation. Given the consistent upward trend over the past decade, most observers following nonprofit executive pay expect his 2024 package to land somewhere between $1.1 million and $1.3 million. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the ASPCA is legally required to publish this information every year, so the answer to how much does the CEO of ASPCA make is always publicly available.

Across the broader leadership team, total executive compensation came to $6.2 million in the most recent reporting year. CFO Gordon Lavalette received $425,994 and Senior VP Todd Hendricks earned $525,284. Bershadker's package topped them all by a wide margin.

Matthew Bershadker's Success Philosophy: What He Says It Really Takes

Bershadker has been pretty consistent in how he talks about leadership, and a few themes come up again and again across his interviews and public statements.

• Take big swings. He traces this back to his time at Share Our Strength, where he learned that careful, incremental efforts rarely move anything at scale.
• Feel the work. Emotional investment in a cause isn't a weakness. He sees it as what keeps you going through slow campaigns and difficult periods.
• Build from the inside. He spent 12 years inside the ASPCA before leading it, working across fundraising, development, and anti-cruelty operations. That depth shaped how he runs the organization.
• Think at scale. A $25 million multi-year commitment to Los Angeles, national field investigation teams, citywide veterinary programs. His view is that well-intentioned small efforts rarely shift the systems that need changing.
• Pair business discipline with mission clarity. His MBA and consulting background gave him financial tools that many nonprofit leaders don't have. He applies them directly to how the ASPCA manages its long-term assets and strategy.

Whether his compensation is fair or excessive is a debate that plays out differently depending on who you ask. What the record actually shows is a career built step by step, from a junior fundraiser at a hunger nonprofit to the CEO of one of the most recognized charities in America. How much does the CEO of ASPCA make? In 2023, over $1.2 million. And based on every public filing the organization has released, that number isn't going down anytime soon.