December 11, 1997 | Read Time: 4 minutes
Salaries at U.S. foundations grew on average by 5 per cent this year — the same rate as in the previous three years, the Council on Foundations says in a new report.
According to the council’s latest compensation survey, the average salary increase among corporate grant makers was 4 per cent, also the same pace as in 1994, 1995, and 1996.
More than half of non-corporate foundations with two or more staff members offered their top executives some exclusive benefits, such as use of an automobile; membership in a social, country, or health club; supplemental insurance policies; or supplemental vacation time, the survey found.
Besides compensation data, the survey also contains gender and other demographic information about foundation employees. For the second year in a row, the study found, women held more than half of all top foundation jobs.
The salary gains, which reflect increases made or planned for this year, were higher than the inflation rate of about 2 per cent for the 12-month period ending in October.
Ninety-two per cent of the grant makers surveyed by the council gave or planned to give raises in 1997, up from 87 per cent last year and 89 per cent in 1995.
Top executives of U.S. foundations received a median salary of $84,000 in 1997. (The median is the level at which half earn more and half earn less.)
Salaries range widely, depending on a foundation’s size, geographic location, and type — that is, whether it is a community, corporate, independent, family, or public foundation.
At the largest independent foundations — those with assets of at least $1-billion — chief executives’ salaries ranged from $125,000 to $479,200, with a median figure of $302,100.
At the smallest — those with less than $10-million in assets — the median salary was about $41,000.
The salary of executives who were their foundations’ only full-time paid staff member ranged from $12,000 to $110,700, with a median level of $48,348.
The median salary for top executives of independent foundations was $115,000, compared with $65,000 for community foundations. Community foundations are charities that raise and distribute money, usually in one geographic area. But salaries for chief executives at community foundations have been growing faster than those at private foundations have.
Inflation-adjusted salaries for top executives rose 16 per cent from 1993 through 1997 at community foundations but just 1.7 per cent at private foundations.
The council did not compare average salaries for male and female chief executives.
Among program officers during that period, however, inflation-adjusted salaries rose 4.6 per cent at private foundations but declined 2.4 per cent at community foundations.
Program officers in 1997 earned a median salary of $60,320. Those at community foundations received $40,534; at public foundations, $46,920; at corporations, $45,000; at family foundations, $58,225; and at independent foundations, $72,000.
About 27 per cent of the grant makers awarded bonuses to their staff members in 1997. Of those institutions, about 65 per cent offered bonuses to their entire staffs. About 12 per cent limited bonuses to the chief executive alone, and about 6 per cent paid bonuses to all professional staff members. The amount was based variously on a percentage of salary, length of service, merit, or other factors.
The granting of bonuses was most frequent among public foundations, a third of which paid staff bonuses this year. The practice was least frequent among community foundations, 23 per cent of which paid bonuses.
In addition to salary information, the survey provides demographic data on foundation employees.
Women constitute almost 75 per cent of full-time paid foundation staff members and 65 per cent of professional positions, figures virtually unchanged since 1994.
But more than half of foundation chief executives are women, up from 43 per cent in 1994. More than 70 per cent of top executives in corporate-giving programs are women, as are 56 per cent in community foundations and 53 per cent in public foundations.
Women are still in the minority among the top ranks of family and independent foundations, where they account for 49.5 per cent and 36 per cent of chief executives, respectively.
Women head about two-thirds of grant-making programs with assets of less than $50-million but only 33 per cent of foundations with assets of over $100-million.
Two-thirds of all full-time program officers are women, as are 92 per cent of support-staff members.
Members of racial and ethnic minority groups have made gains in executive employment at foundations, though their percentages remain relatively low. They now hold 6.4 per cent of the top jobs, up from 5.3 per cent last year and 4.1 per cent in 1994.
The council’s most recent survey is based on data from 490 community, family, independent, and public foundations and 81 corporate grant makers, which together held charitable assets of more than $104-billion in 1996.
Copies of the 1997 Grantmakers Salary Report are available from the Publications Department, Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington 20036; (202) 467-0427. The price for members is $50, plus $7 for postage and handling. For non-members it is $100, plus $11 for postage and handling.
