Remember when Pat Halloran, the president of the group that operates the Orpheum theater downtown, said the theater board was “brainstorming” and thought they might want to sell the naming rights to the theater to build “brand recognition”? A burst of negative reaction convinced them that wasn’t such a great idea, though they say they might still try to sell naming rights for the lobby (or something).

Well, thinking about the money that move would raise for the theater prompted John Branston, wide-awake at the Memphis Flyer, to look at how much Halloran makes himself, and point out how underscrutinized influential local nonprofits — and the salaries they pay their top people — generally are. Wow: It turns out Halloran makes a $375,000 salary, more than the pay of mayors Herenton and Wharton combined. (Click here for more salary scoop; I predict you’ll be shocked.)

Are those corporate-level salaries really justified for organizations that spend lots of time with their hands out? (And, to be fair, do plenty of good things, too.) Does knowing that the guy who runs United Way makes $250,000 a year, for example, make you want to give less?