the nonprofit career guide
Fact Sheet |
The nonprofit sector is famous for low salaries. And there’s no denying that too many nonprofit sector employees are overworked and underpaid. However, researcher Lester Salamon1 attributes low salaries more to the field of work that nonprofit organizations perform than the fact of being nonprofit. Plus, benefits in the sector may be better than assumed. Respondents to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transition Survey said of their organizations that 64 percent offer retirement benefits to which the organization contributes, 79 percent offer employer-paid health insurance, and 73 percent offer retirement benefits.
In addition, as the talent wars escalate and nonprofit organizations acknowledge the competition they face from business and government recruiters, many leaders are voluntarily conducting compensation studies and adjusting salaries for entry-level and junior professionals. Job candidates also shouldn’t be surprised to hear about less traditional perks that a recruiting organization can offer—from flexible work hours or job sharing to valuable professional development opportunities and special work assignments.
Not surprisingly, the larger organizations tend to pay higher salaries to top staff, and these organizations also showed higher increases in compensation, according to the 2007 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report.2 As one example, Table 1 (below) shows median salaries for the top program position by organization budget size.
TABLE 1
| Median Compensation for Top Program Position, by Organization’s Budget Size |
|
| Organization’s Budget | Median Compensation |
| less than $250,000 | $29,981 |
| $250,001–$500,000 | $47,967 |
| $500,001–$1,000,000 | $61,350 |
| $1,000,001–$2,500,000 | $63,450 |
| $2,500,001–$5,000,000 | $68,154 |
| $5,000,001–$10,000,000 | $75,085 |
| $10,000,001–$25,000,000 | $86,146 |
| $25,000,001–$50,000,000 | $102,550 |
Health and science organizations—fields that require specialized knowledge and tend to be associated with larger organizations—have the highest median salaries overall. Where are the lowest salaries found? Food, religion, housing, animal-related, and youth development organizations rank at the bottom (see Tables 2 and 3 below).
Health and science organizations—fields that require specialized knowledge and tend to be associated with larger organizations—have the highest median salaries overall. Where are the lowest salaries found? Food, religion, housing, animal-related, and youth development organizations rank at the bottom (see Tables 2 and 3).
TABLE 2
| Five Program Areas with Highest Overall Median Compensation, 2005 | |
| Program Area | Median Compensation |
| Science and Technology Research Institutes, Services | $125,947 |
| Health—General and Rehabilitative | $117,459 |
| Medical Research | $112,914 |
| Social Science Research Institutes, Services | $110,513 |
| Mutual/Membership Benefit | $109,667 |
TABLE 3
| Five Program Areas with Lowest3 Overall Median Compensation, 2005 | |
| Program Area | Median Compensation |
| Religion | $67,021 |
| Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition | $67,274 |
| Housing, Shelter | $73,399 |
| Animal Related | $74,975 |
| Youth Development | $75,000 |
Notes
2 2007 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report (Williamsburg, VA: Philanthropic Research, Inc. [GuideStar], 2007). All salary information in this section is from the GuideStar report.
3 These figures reflect all positions reported for each category. Some of the median salaries may look high because for many smaller organizations, only the CEO’s compensation is reported on Form 990, on which these data are based. Either no one else in the organization is compensated, or no other employees make more than $50,000, and therefore their compensation is not reported.