January 25, 2001 | Read Time: 4 minutes
By DEBRA E. BLUM
Median salaries at U.S. foundations rose by 5 percent last year, matching increases
posted each year since 1992, according to a new report by the Council on Foundations.
Chief executive officers at all types of foundations — community, corporate, and private — received a median salary of $95,000 in 2000, compared with $88,200 the previous year. The median is the level at which half earn more and half earn less. Program officers at all types of foundations earned $65,000, compared with $61,585 in 1999.
The salary gains, which reflect increases that had been made or were planned for last year, exceeded the inflation rate of 3.4 percent for the 12-month period ending in November.
The survey is based on data covering 5,363 full-time employees, representing 40 different positions, at 699 grant makers. Together, the funds in the survey held about half of all foundation assets in 1998.
Among the survey’s highlights:
Chief executives. The median salary for chief executives at private foundations last year was $134,000. At the largest private foundations — those with assets of $1-billion or more — salaries of chief executives ranged from $150,000 to $570,000.
At community foundations, which raise money and distribute it within a specific geographic region, the median salary for chief executives was $75,000. The highest salary paid to a top officer at a community foundation was $410,000.
But the survey found that chief-executive salaries at community foundations are rising faster than those at private foundations. From 1996 to 2000, private-foundation salaries grew by a total of 10 percent, adjusted for inflation. Taking inflation into account at community foundations, pay for chief executives rose during the same period by 25 percent.
Median salaries of chief executives at all types of foundations varied by region, from a high of $125,500 in the Northeast, to a low of $84,179 in the Midwest.
Chief financial officers. The median salary for all treasurers or chief financial officers was $90,900. At community funds, chief financial officers earned a median of $62,750, while at private foundations they earned $127,500. At private foundations with assets of $1-billion or more, salaries reached as high as nearly $400,000. At smaller private foundations — those with assets of $10-million to $49.9-million — salaries topped out at $82,390.
Program officers. Program officers at private foundations also earned substantially more on average than those at community grant makers — a median of $74,424, compared with $44,100. And salaries are growing more slowly at community funds. From 1996 to 2000, the median pay of program officers, adjusted for inflation, grew by 1.8 percent at community foundations, compared with a 4.5-percent increase at private foundations.
Bonuses. While 70 percent of grant makers reported that all their staff members were eligible for bonuses in 1999, only one-third said that their whole staff received bonuses that year. Twenty-three foundations gave a bonus to their chief executive only, while three gave bonuses to all staff members except the chief executive. Overall, chief executives received bonuses at 18 percent of foundations. The median size of the bonus was $7,500. At least one chief executive, at a foundation with more than $250-million in assets, received a $100,000 bonus.
Benefits. Forty-five percent of foundations, excluding those operated by companies, provided use of a car, a club membership, use of a cellular phone, or at least one similar perk exclusively to their top executives.
Nine out of ten grant makers provided health benefits to full-time employees. The same percentage of foundations also provided a retirement plan.
Seventy-eight foundations — or about 15 percent of the 507 grant makers that responded to questions about benefits — said that they extended benefits to the unmarried domestic partners of employees, up from 10 percent in 1998. Another 20 grant makers reported last year that they were considering adopting a policy to extend such benefits.
Role of Women, Minorities
The compensation report also includes information on the gender, race, and ethnicity of foundation employees.
Women constituted three-quarters of all full-time paid staff members last year, and two-thirds of all professional staff members. They held 52 percent of all chief-executive positions, although they were more likely to head smaller foundations than larger ones. About 62 percent of funds with assets less than $50-million had a female chief executive, while women were at the helm of only 34 percent of foundations with assets of $100-million or more.
Of the 622 foundations that reported the race of their chief executive, 5.3 percent, or 33 funds, were led by a member of a racial minority. Black women were the most likely to hold those positions.
Overall, minorities accounted for 23 percent of all full-time foundation employees. Blacks, who made up nearly 13 percent of foundation staff, represented the largest minority group.
Copies of the report, “2000 Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report,” can be ordered starting next month by calling the Council on Foundations’ publications department at (888) 239-5221; or placing an order online at http://www.cof.org. The price is $75 for members, and $120 for non-members.
