Raises Given to Fund Raisers Outpaced Inflation, Study Finds

Salaries of U.S. fund raisers rose by 4.2 percent last year, to a median of $62,500, according to a new

survey by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The growth in median pay outpaced inflation, which was 2.3 percent in 2003.

Chief development officers drew a median salary of $65,000, meaning that half made more and half made less. The size of the median raise for top fund raisers was 5.6 percent.

People who hold the No. 2 spot in nonprofit fund-raising departments earned a median of $55,000; and other fund raisers, such as prospect researchers and development coordinators, made a median $46,000. Fund-raising consulting firms paid an $81,000 median salary to their principal or senior fund raisers, while other fund raisers at such firms made a median $67,500.

To come up with its findings, the fund raisers’ association surveyed a representative sample of 1,020 American and 382 Canadian fund raisers out of its more than 25,000 members. Candian fund raisers reported a median salary of $45,369 in U.S. dollars, an increase of 7.1 percent.

Role of a Credential

The survey found a significant pay differential for fund raisers who have earned a credential certifying their expertise. For example, 313 U.S. fund raisers who had obtained the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential earned $83,261 on average last year, compared with an average $65,976 for 1,007 fund raisers without certification. (Median figures for the certified fund-raising executive salary comparisons were not available.)

When fund raisers with the same level of experience were compared, those with the credential made more money at nearly every level, and the pay differences tended to rise with experience.

People with more than 10 and less than 20 years of fund-raising experience who hold the credential made 13 to 15 percent more, on average, than those without the credential, while CFRE holders with 25 to 30 years of experience earned 25 percent more, on average. The trend, however, was reversed among 46 fund raisers who reported the most experience: 30 or more years in the profession. Those without the CFRE made an average of $131,148 last year; those with the credential earned $95,341.

Among other findings in the survey:

• Women made significantly less than men, a finding that has held true since the association started its survey in 1981. Among fund raisers in the United States, women last year drew a median salary of $59,000, compared with the $78,000 earned by their male counterparts. Similar differences, albeit smaller ones, were found for Canadian fund raisers.

  The gender gap was apparent in almost all of the jobs examined, but it could be closing a bit. Since 2000, female fund raisers have gone from making 66 percent of what men make to earning 76 percent of what men made last year.

• Turnover in the fund-raising field remains high, compared with other professions, but may be slowing. Twenty-five percent of all fund raisers in the United States changed jobs last year. Those numbers were down from 2002, when 36 percent switched jobs. In what may be a signal that fewer fund raisers will leave their current positions in the coming year, 61 percent of American fund raisers said they planned to remain in their current position indefinitely, up from 42 percent in the previous year.
• More fund raisers may be entering the field after receiving training for a nonprofit or fund-raising career, as opposed to the more common practice of entering the profession from some other career. In the three most recent surveys, the number of U.S. respondents who said they were students before they became fund raisers grew from 10 to 13 percent, and the percentage of fund raisers who entered the field before the age of 30 also rose, from 37 to 40 percent.
• Fund raisers who work at consulting companies earned higher median incomes ($78,000) than did development officers employed by nonprofit organizations. Among the charitable institutions where fund raisers reported the highest median salaries last year were public-affairs, environmental, and emergency-relief organizations; the lowest median salaries were reported at social-service, religious, and federated-appeal organizations, such as United Ways.
• Over all, median pay increased for fund raisers with more experience and for those working for the most sophisticated fund-raising organizations. The median pay for development officers with less than four years of experience was $45,000; steady increases were found for every three to five years of additional experience, peaking at a median of $96,750 for fund raisers with 30 years or more in the profession. Similar trends could be seen in salaries at groups that raised the most last year. At organizations that raised $100-million or more, fund raisers reported a median salary of $83,625, while steadily decreasing salaries were evident among organizations as they got further away from that level of support.
• More than 90 percent of U.S. fund raisers are covered by their employers’ medical insurance or payment plan, about the same percentage as was found in the previous year’s survey. Smaller numbers reported supplemental benefits like vision insurance (50 percent) and long-term care insurance (22 percent). More than 90 percent said their organizations had retirement savings plans.

The general findings in the survey are comparable to that found in another study of compensation. A survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that chief fund raisers at baccalaureate institutions saw a 5.9 percent increase in median pay last year, while those at master’s and doctoral institutions saw increases of more than 8 percent (The Chronicle, April 1).

The Association of Fundraising Professionals’ “2004 Compensation and Benefits Study” is available for free in the Members Only section of the association’s Web site, at http://www.afpnet.org. Nonmembers may order an electronic version of the full survey for $65. To order, call Kijuana Wright, education associate, at (800) 666-3863.