New Survey Benchmarks Nonprofit Salaries
Lagging salaries have often been a source of concern for the nonprofit workforce.
But nonprofits in Central Massachusetts now have a new weapon in their wage-setting arsenal.
Third Sector New England and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation just released what is likely the only existing benchmark of nonprofit executive salaries, according to Gail Randall, special projects officer at the community foundation. The new report provides boards of directors with previously undocumented data on compensation by fields of service, budgets, staff size, executive director gender and time in position, and education and compensation, among other categories.
The report shows, for instance, that 43 percent of area organizations have budgets between $1 million and $2,499,999. The average base pay for an executive director or CEO for a charity in Central Massachusetts is $82,992.
“There simply hasn’t been an ability to compare before now,” Randall said.
Finger on the Pulse
“I had been fielding so many requests from our constituents, mainly grassroots, small- to mid-size businesses” for a report like this, said Lyn Freundlich, Third Sector New England’s director of administration and human resources. As the economy worsened, demand for the report grew as nonprofits tried to do more with less, she said.
Indeed, the toll on nonprofits has been noticeable, according to Bonnie Losavio, executive director of the United Way of Soutbridge, Sturbridge and Charlton.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for nonprofits,” she said.
Randall said that agencies had been resorting to calling friends at other agencies to get salary ballparks when setting compensation.
Without hard numbers, Freundlich said the task of comparing salaries is complicated.
“Depending on the organization, positions like ‘advocate’ can mean different things in different groups,” she said.
The report —“Valuing Our Nonprofit Workforce: A Compensation Survey of and for Nonprofits in Massachusetts and Adjoining Communities” — took nine months to complete. The data is made more valuable — and illustrates the enthusiasm behind the project — by the strong response rate in Central Massachusetts, Randall said. Forty-seven Central Massachusetts agencies responded to the survey, as compared with 68 in Boston.
Freundlich said partnerships that were formed to craft the survey — such as the alliance with Greater Worcester Community Foundation — help broaden the scope of the study and increase its usefulness.
Jean McMurray, executive director of the Worcester County Food Bank, called the survey “really good timing.”
The food bank does its own compensation assessment every few years, she said, and was in need of an updated version.
“Good business comes from good data to make good decisions,” she said. “To help you meet your mission and meet your goals, your employees have to have fair compensation.”
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