The president of the Société protectrice des animaux (SPA), Jacques-Charles Fombonne, has held this position since 2019. The question of his remuneration regularly arises in online searches, driven by a legitimate interest in the financial management of major French charitable organizations.
The answer can be summed up in one line: Jacques-Charles Fombonne is a volunteer president of the SPA. His remuneration for this role is therefore zero euros, including for the 2024 fiscal year. To understand why this information generates so much curiosity, and what it reveals about the functioning of the association, several elements must be examined.
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Volunteer presidency at the SPA: a precise legal status
In an association governed by the 1901 law, there is nothing to prevent the remuneration of a leader. The decision lies within the statutes and the board of directors. At the SPA, the choice has been made to maintain the presidency as an unpaid position.
An official post from the SPA published on the eve of the general assembly marking the end of Jacques-Charles Fombonne’s term explicitly qualifies him as “volunteer president of the SPA since 2018”, specifying that he will have dedicated eight years of his time to the association. This wording confirms that the position has never been transformed into a salaried role during all of his successive terms.
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Analyzing the salary of Jacques-Charles Fombonne at the SPA thus amounts to noting the absence of remuneration, which does not imply the absence of responsibilities: the president assumes civil and criminal liability, represents the association in its institutional relations, and supervises the overall strategy.
Difference between volunteer president and salaried general director
The frequent confusion surrounding the “salary of the president of the SPA” is partly due to a conflation between two distinct roles. The president, elected by the board of directors from among its members, serves in a volunteer capacity. The general director, on the other hand, is a salaried employee of the association, hired to ensure daily operational management.
Sources dating back to 2019 mention that a former general director of the SPA received a gross annual salary of around 145,000 euros. This amount pertains to a salaried management position, not the presidency. The remuneration of the general director and the volunteer status of the president follow distinct logics.
This distinction exists in most major French associations. The president sets the direction, while the general director implements it with a salaried team. The two positions are governed by different contractual rules and fiscal obligations.
2024 SPA budget and the weight of the payroll
For 2024, the SPA has declared a budget of resources of approximately 109.5 million euros. The association employs over a thousand staff members across its shelters, dispensaries, and administrative services. The payroll represents a significant portion of operating expenses.
The 2024 fiscal year ended with a deficit of approximately 145,000 euros. This tense financial context reinforces the logic of an unpaid presidency: in a structure that primarily relies on donations and legacies, every budget line is subject to careful scrutiny by donors and the media.
Here are the elements that make up the financial framework of the SPA:
- Resources mainly come from donations, legacies, and public generosity, which subjects the association to enhanced transparency obligations.
- Annual accounts are certified by an auditor and made public, in accordance with the requirements applicable to organizations soliciting public generosity.
- The board of directors, composed of members elected at the general assembly, validates the budget and strategic directions without receiving remuneration for this role.
End of term in 2024 and succession to the presidency
Jacques-Charles Fombonne’s term covered the period from 2019 until the 2024 general assembly. An official SPA document related to the 2024 AG presents the list “Actors for the SPA,” led by the outgoing president, which proposed the election of four new board members as part of the SPA 2030 program.
No salary increase has been considered for 2024, as the position remained volunteer until the last day of the term. The question of potential remuneration for the future president falls under the statutes and a vote by the board of directors, but no public signal suggests a change in doctrine on this point.
The SPA 2030 program highlighted during this AG mentions several priorities:
- Optimizing the operation of existing shelters and developing new accommodation structures to address the increase in abandonments.
- Raising public awareness and engaging political actors on animal welfare issues.
- Changing the legal framework to strengthen penalties against mistreatment and regulate online sales of pets.
Financial transparency of associations: why this question arises every year
The search “salary president SPA” reflects a broader concern about the use of funds raised by major associations. Several past scandals in the French charitable sector have left a lasting mark on donors, who want to ensure that their money funds missions rather than excessive salaries.
In the case of the SPA, the president’s volunteer status serves as a trust argument for donors. The association publishes its accounts and submits them to the controls required by the regulations applicable to organizations receiving public donations.
Transparency is not limited to the question of the president’s salary. It encompasses the remuneration of all executive leaders, operating expenses, and the ratio between mission expenses and administrative expenses. These data are included in the annual reports accessible to the public.
For 2024, the factual answer remains simple: Jacques-Charles Fombonne received no remuneration for his presidency of the SPA. The moderate deficit recorded for the fiscal year and the maintenance of the volunteer status until the end of the term confirm that this policy has not evolved.