Pay Increases at Foundations

New study of 2000 compensation shows that most grant makers received raises that outpaced inflation

Median salaries at community, family, independent, and public foundations rose 5 percent last year, while corporate grant makers gave median salary

raises of 4 percent, according to a new survey by the Council on Foundations. The raises kept pace with those reported every year since 1992 in the council’s annual survey, and exceeded the rate of inflation, which is 1.9 percent for the 12-month period ending in November.

The median salary for a chief executive or chief giving officer was $100,000 in 2000, according to the survey — meaning that half made more and half made less. Program officers in the survey made a median salary of $66,100 last year. The survey was based on responses from 728 foundations and corporate-giving programs.

The survey included a longitudinal study of the salary data from 1997 to 2001 and adjusted the pay increases for inflation. Chief executive officers of private foundations received average annual raises of 3.4 percent during those years, when inflation is taken into account, while their counterparts at community foundations received raises of 4.89 percent. Program officers fared less well, with those at private foundations receiving average annual raises of 0.53 percent in inflation-adjusted terms, and those at community foundations receiving average annual raises of 0.35 percent.

Grant makers supplied data on 5,724 of their full-time paid staff members, covering 36 different positions. The respondents hold slightly more than 45 percent of all foundation assets and were responsible for just over 41 percent of all grants made in 1999. Other key findings:

Chief executives. Leaders of private foundations — both family and independent grant makers — made a median salary of $140,500. Family foundation leaders made a median of $103,200, while senior executives of independent foundations made $160,300. Chief giving officers at corporate foundations made a median salary of $100,000. Public foundations paid their leaders a median of $95,000. At community foundations, the median salary for chief executives was $80,000, with salaries ranging from $23,000 to $440,000.

Chief financial officers. At private foundations, chief financial officers made a median of $127,200 last year, according to the survey. Public foundations paid a median of $81,500 last year, while community foundations paid $65,313.

Program officers. Private foundations paid their program directors a median of $124,050, with family foundations paying a median of $74,247 and independent grant makers paying a median of $126,315. Program officers who work for corporate grant makers made $55,000; at public foundations, they made $52,370, and at community foundations, $44,133.

Bonuses. One in three grant makers (excluding the corporate philanthropies) reported that some or all of their employees were eligible for bonuses in 2000. Seventy-one percent of those respondents said that all staff members were eligible to receive a bonus last year, but only one third reported actually giving all of their employees a bonus.

Benefits. Grant makers with less than $10-million in assets said the median benefits costs were equal to nearly 19 percent of total employee salaries, while foundations with assets of $500-million or more found that their benefits costs added up to a little more than 28 percent of their total employee salaries. Retirement benefits were the most expensive to foundations, taking up more than 47 percent of the total benefits costs, followed by health and dental insurance, which was responsible for 41 percent of the total benefits costs. Nearly 94 percent of foundations surveyed offered medical benefits to their staff members, and nearly 90 percent offered retirement benefits. Sixteen percent of foundations reported that they offered health-insurance coverage to their employees’ domestic partners.

Women and minorities. The report also included information on the gender and ethnicity of foundation employees. Grant makers reported that three of every four of their full-time, paid employees were female. Women made up nearly 68 percent of all professional staff members at the foundations surveyed and held nearly 92 percent of all support-staff jobs.

Nearly one in four of the foundations’ full-time paid staff members belongs to a minority group, with blacks making up the largest group, nearly 13 percent of employees, followed by Hispanics and Asians, who accounted for nearly 6 and nearly 5 percent, respectively. Members of minority groups held fewer than 6 percent of chief-executive jobs but 34 percent of program-officer positions.

Part-time workers. The survey showed that three out of five foundations employ part-time staff members. Sixty-three percent of those employers offered part-time staff members benefits in addition to paid leave, while about 10 percent offered those employees only paid leave and just over 27 percent offered them no benefits at all.

Turnover. Slightly more than 14 percent of staff members left their jobs last year, according to the survey. Community foundations reported the highest rate, nearly 13 percent, and family foundations the lowest, at 7 percent (though the turnover rate of support-staff members was comparable to that of other types of grant makers). The survey found that foundation leaders have held their jobs an average of slightly more than seven years, while program officers have held theirs for an average of three years.

Copies of the report, “2001 Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report,” are available by calling the Council on Foundations’ Publications Department at (888) 239-5221 or by placing an order online at http://www.cof.org. The price is $80 for council members and $150 for nonmembers.