In the 1960s, while serving as the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim (MTJ) in New York City, Rav Moshe Feinstein ZT"L received his regular paycheck from the Yeshiva. This time, however, he noticed that his paycheck was significantly higher than usual. Upon investigating, he discovered that the Yeshiva board had decided to give him a raise due to his growing prominence as the Gadol HaDor (eminent Torah authority) whose Halachic decisions were sought by Jewish people worldwide.
Rav Moshe could have certainly used the extra money, and the Yeshiva was Boruch Hashem, in a position to pay him the extra money. Nevertheless, Rav Moshe immediately returned the extra money. He explained that when he had initially taken the position, he had agreed to a specific salary. While the board had the right to offer him a raise, he felt that accepting additional money without him having explicitly negotiated it beforehand in the customary way, could be seen by donors and others in an unfavorable light.
He further explained that since people donated to the Yeshiva to support Torah, every dollar needed to be used exactly as the donors intended. Even though the board had approved the raise, he felt that donors had given with the understanding of the existing salary structure and changing that without their explicit knowledge wasn't appropriate in his view.
