October 2, 2003 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Salaries at big nonprofit organizations are continuing to rise despite the slow economy, according to a new compensation survey by PRM Consulting, in Washington. On average, salaries for the 92 positions at health and social-welfare nonprofit organizations included in the survey increased by an average of 2.9 percent in the last 12 months, while those at educational organizations rose 3.2 percent.
People in senior management positions at health and social-welfare organizations and educational associations received increases that exceeded the average raise. Senior executives of health and social-welfare groups won average increases of 4.9 percent, while pay for top executives at educational organizations rose 4.2 percent.
The report compiled salaries from 318 nonprofit organizations, including professional and trade associations, to reflect a total of 10,588 employees. Organizations in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., accounted for 121 of the respondents.
While professional associations made up the majority of respondents in the survey, the largest groups of charities accounted for were health and social-welfare organizations, followed by education groups. Health and social-welfare organizations, such as the American Red Cross and the March of Dimes, composed 69 of the organizations in the survey, while education groups, such as the International Reading Association and Elderhostel, composed 58 of the respondents.
Gains for CEO’s
Chief executives of health and social-welfare organizations reported an average salary of $225,400 for 2003, up 9.1 percent from $206,600 in 2002. Meanwhile, the average salary for leaders of educational organizations was $209,500 this year, up 5.3 percent from $198,900 the previous year. Top financial officers at health and social-welfare organizations reported an average salary of $117,600, up 9.2 percent from $107,700 in 2002. Financial executives at educational groups, on the other hand, earned an average salary of $102,100 this year, up 0.6 percent from $101,500 the year before.
Salary figures for the top fund-raising positions at these groups showed a greater disparity: At health and social-welfare organizations, the average salary was $125,900, up 11.1 percent from $113,300 the year before, compared with $88,400 at educational groups, up 19.5 percent from $74,000 in 2002.
The largest decrease in pay for top positions was in research jobs — $147,000 was the average salary for the top research position at health and social-welfare organizations, a 10-percent decrease from the $163,300 average salary reported last year. Top researchers at education groups earned an average of $87,300, a 5.2-percent decrease from the average salary of $91,800 in 2002.
While most executive pay fared better at health and social-welfare organizations, those who lead volunteer programs at educational groups reported a higher average salary than their counterparts at health and social-welfare groups. The average pay for top managers of volunteers at educational groups was $82,200, up 0.6 percent from $81,700 in 2002, compared with $72,500 at social-welfare organizations, down 9.9 percent from $79,700 the previous year.
Some of the pay differences can be explained by budget size. Only 20 of the 58 educational groups, or 34.5 percent, had annual budgets of $15-million or more. Among social-welfare organizations, 37 of the 69 respondents, or 53.6 percent, had budgets of more than $15-million. The lowest budgets reported in the survey were $341,000 for health and social-welfare organizations and $456,000 for educational organizations.
Copies of the “Management Compensation Report — Not-for-Profit Organizations” can be ordered by nonprofit groups for $350 each on the Web at http://www.prmconsulting.com, or by contacting Lyn McCloskey at PRM Consulting, 1637 Montague Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011-2873; (202) 291-3700.
