Median Pay at Foundations Increased 5%, Report Says

Median salaries at most types of foundations rose less than 5 percent last year, according to a new survey by

the Council on Foundations. The raises were smaller than those reported in the council’s previous two annual surveys, but higher than the 2002 inflation rate of 2.4 percent.

Family foundations posted the highest gains, raising salaries by a median of 5 percent, meaning half the raises were higher and half lower. Corporate and community foundations each gave median raises of 4 percent, the lowest in the survey. The median salary for a chief executive officer or chief giving officer at all types of foundations was $98,000.

Top executives at independent foundations had the highest median pay, at $149,800, while top officers at community foundations had the lowest, at $77,000.

Program officers at all types of foundations earned a median salary of $65,000.

The survey is based on data from 837 foundations.

Chief executive officers of private foundations saw their pay rise by an annual average of 3.8 percent, after adjusting for inflation, compared with 4.8 percent for those at community foundations, according to an analysis of salary data from 1998 through 2002.

However, even though median salaries at community foundations have grown faster over that period, pay for chief executives at private foundations remains considerably higher: The median salary for top officers at private foundations was $167,786 in 2002, compared with $95,000 for chief executives at community foundations.

Median annual pay raises for program officers barely kept ahead of inflation over the same period. After taking inflation into account, program officers at private foundations received average pay increases of 0.8 percent annually, slightly ahead of the 0.7 percent at community foundations.

Other key findings of the survey:

Chief executives. Salaries varied greatly by foundation size and type. At community foundations, salaries ranged from $21,000 to $475,000; at corporate grant makers, from $45,686 to $343,677; at family foundations, from $8,000 to $480,000; at independent foundations, from $25,310 to $630,000; and at public foundations, from $35,000 to $260,000.

Salaries also varied by region, with the highest median pay at foundations in the Northeast — $121,000 — and the lowest in the Midwest, at $83,200. The median salary at foundations in the West was $108,000. In the South it was $100,000.

Chief financial officers. The survey found the highest median salary — $140,000 — at private foundations. Other median salaries were $82,030 at public foundations, $70,000 at corporate grant makers, and $64,914 at community foundations.

Program directors. The median pay at independent foundations was $130,000. It was $99,400 at family foundations, $80,340 at public foundations, $74,000 at corporate grant makers, and $53,560 at community foundations.

Bonuses. Slightly more than one-third of foundations (not including corporate grant makers) reported that some or all of their employees were eligible for bonuses. Of those offering bonuses, 71.3 percent said all staff members were eligible. Fewer than half of those organizations, however, actually paid bonuses to all employees.

Benefits. The median cost of total staff benefits for all foundations was 22.7 percent of total payroll. Independent foundations paid the highest percentage of payroll for benefits — a median of 28 percent. The lowest median benefits cost was at community funds — 19.7 percent. Grant makers with assets of $500-million or more — paid the highest percentage of payroll in benefits (29.7 percent), while the smallest foundations — those with less than $10-million in assets — paid the lowest (17.1 percent). The most common type of benefit offered was health insurance, provided by 92 percent of grant makers.

Women and minorities. Women continue to make up the majority of foundation staff members, as well as a majority of chief executives. The largest concentration of female chief executive officers is among corporate grant makers, where 76.3 percent of CEOs are women. Over all, women account for 54.3 percent of chief executives. More than two-thirds (67.8 percent) of all professional staff members are women.

Only 5.8 percent of foundation chief executives are members of minority groups, including 3.1 percent who are black, 1.3 percent who are Hispanic, 1.3 percent who are Asian-American, and 0.1 percent who are American Indian. Minority-group members make up 21.3 percent of all professional staff members and 31.1 percent of administrative staff members.

Turnover. Slightly more than 13 percent of staff members left their jobs last year, the survey found. Public foundations had the highest turnover rate — 20.1 percent — while family funds had the lowest, 10.2 percent. Foundation CEOs have been in their positions an average of 7.4 years, while program officers have held their jobs an average of three years.

Copies of the report, “2002 Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report,” are available by calling the Council on Foundations’ Publications Department at (888) 239-5521. Online orders will be accepted at http://www.cof.org/applications/publications.

The price for a print version is $80 for council members and $150 for nonmembers. A CD-ROM version is $40 for members and $80 for nonmembers.