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The Chronicle found that 45 percent of the charities under review paid their chief executive at least $200,000 a year, among them several Jewish organizations.

At the American Society for Technion, executive vice president Melvyn Bloom earned $232,000. The society's income last year topped $54 million.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, earns $200,000 a year. The ADL raised almost $36 million.

In the world of Jewish federations, which raise funds for Israel and for domestic programs, the executive vice president of the United Jewish Appeal and former director of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, Rabbi Brian Lurie, earned $300,000. The organization's income as of June 1994 was $382 million.

The New York affiliate, the UJA-Federation, had an income as of June 1994 of $180 million. Executive vice-president Stephen Solender earned $301,000.

At the low end of the Jewish salary scale was Hadassah, which reported that while its income last year was nearly $86 million., its executive director, Beth Wohlgelernter, earned $113,000.

The Chronicle's information on 184 American organizations was culled from material provided to the Internal Revenue Service.

By comparison, the president of Harvard University, Neil Rudenstine, earned $241,000. President Bill Clinton's salary was $200,000, although that simply supplements what is probably the largest, albeit most scrutinized, expense account in America.

Compensation is market-driven, Bloom said, as non-profit organizations must compete against private corporations for qualified staff.