© Patrick McMullan Photography

MoMA director Glenn Lowry, right, seen here with Whitney Museum director Adam Weinberg, is the highest-earning executive of a U.S. nonprofit art institution.

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Lowry’s compensation package includes $928,818 in salary, $455,581 in benefits, and a $336,000 expense allowance. The latter number represents the cost of renting his apartment in the 52-story condominium at 15 West 53rd St. adjacent to MoMA, which the museum owns.

Lowry’s compensation numbers came from a new Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of the 291 nonprofits that receive the most private donations. Lowry was followed by Peter Gelb, general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, who earned $1.1 million, and Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., who made $1.06 million.

“Some people believe that nonprofit managers need to be compensated well because they're managing complex institutions, and others think this is too excessive,'' said Stacy Palmer, the Chronicle’s editor. “When people see these salaries, they don't always think that this is appropriate for a nonprofit institution.”

In last year’s survey, outgoing Metropolitan Museum of Art director Philippe de Montebello was at the top of the list, with a $4.7 million package. However, this number included a $4 million bonus for his 30 years at the head of the Met. In 2007, his last full year at the nation’s largest art institution, de Montebello received total pay of $766,212.