One in Five Philadelphia Arts Groups Offers Employee Bonuses, Survey Says

JOB MARKET

Many arts and cultural nonprofit groups in the Philadelphia area have adopted compensation practices that mirror those in the for-profit world, according to a new survey of salaries and benefits offered by 89 organizations in the region. The survey was conducted for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia by Mercer Human Resource Consulting and released this month.

Seventeen participants reported that they offer bonuses to their employees, as for-profit employers commonly do. Of those that offer bonuses, the median amount given to hourly employees was 1 percent of their salaries, salaried workers received a median of 4 percent of their salaries, and managers received a median of 9 percent of their salaries. (A median figure means that half of the responses were above that figure and half below.)

Charities in the survey said median salary increases for 2001, and projected increases for 2002, were between 3 and 4 percent. Raises were given most often on the basis of employee merit (cited by 52 of the organizations surveyed). The number of groups that reported giving pay increases based on the cost of living rose from 15 in the council’s 1995 compensation survey to 27 in the current survey.

The survey calculated median base salaries for eight positions at the arts organizations as of January 1, 2001, organizing the findings by the groups’ operating budgets. (See the chart below for the results.)

The report also offered a profile of the region’s organizations and their employees. Sixty percent of the respondents reported that their operating budgets were less than $1-million, with 16 percent having budgets greater than $4-million. Nearly three out of four respondents reported that they had fewer than 20 full-time staff members, with nearly half of the total organizations reporting that they employ fewer than three full-time workers. Seventy-four groups reported that they have part-time employees, and 51 respondents said they have interns. (Twenty-eight percent of those groups reported that they compensate their interns.)

A median of 66 percent of workers at the organizations surveyed are female; a median of 92 percent of workers at the arts groups are Caucasian, a median of 12 percent are African-American, a median of 4 percent are Asian, and a median of 3.5 percent are Latino.

Copies of the “2001 Compensation and Benefits Survey” can be obtained through the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia. Call (215) 790-3620. Survey participants will receive one free copy; all others will be charged $35 apiece.