Salaries and Benefits at Foundations
January 23, 2003 | Read Time: 2 minutes
| MEDIAN FOUNDATION SALARIES, BY POSITION | |
| Chief executive officer | $98,000 |
| Associate director/executive vice president | $105,684 |
| Vice president (program) | $101,500 |
| Vice president (administration) | $93,000 |
| Chief financial officer/treasurer | $86,400 |
| Controller | $66,500 |
| Chief investment officer | $211,960 |
| Program director | $89,042 |
| Senior program officer | $89,130 |
| Program officer | $65,000 |
| Program associate | $45,000 |
| Director of communications | $70,000 |
| Chief development/advancement officer | $72,766 |
| Research associate | $50,423 |
| Computer professional | $54,183 |
| Office manager | $48,378 |
| Accountant | $44,500 |
| Human-resources professional | $60,375 |
| Donor-relations professional | $52,003 |
| Donor-relations/development assistant | $34,020 |
| Grants manager | $50,000 |
| WHO WAS ELIGIBLE FOR A BONUS | |||||
| All staff members | Only professional staff members | Only support-staff members | Only CEO | Other | |
| Community | 22.7% | 1.4% | 1.0% | 3.4% | 1.0% |
| Independent | 21.5 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 6.7 |
| Family | 28.2 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 5.5 | 3.1 |
| Public | 25.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 3.9 |
| All | 23.8 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Note: Based on 2001 data from 739 foundations. | |||||
| FOUNDATIONS THAT PAID BONUSES | ||||
| All staff members | Only CEO | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Community | 30 | 10.3% | 9 | 3.1% |
| Independent | 18 | 8.6 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Family | 27 | 16.6 | 9 | 5.5 |
| Public | 11 | 14.5 | 4 | 5.3 |
| All | 86 | 11.6 | 25 | 3.4 |
| Note: Based on 2001 data. | ||||
| MEDIAN SALARIES FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS | |||||
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
| Private foundations, by assets | |||||
| $250-million and over | $260,100 | $252,500 | $266,400 | $282,338 | $295,000 |
| $100-million-$249.9-million | 141,750 | 148,850 | 160,000 | 173,619 | 185,000 |
| $50-million-$99.9-million | 121,058 | 127,700 | 134,000 | 141,665 | 145,551 |
| $25-million-$49.9-million | 65,563 | 70,919 | 75,500 | 78,991 | 83,417 |
| $10-million-$24.9-million | 67,000 | 69,000 | 77,725 | 77,400 | 82,000 |
| Under $10-million | 46,500 | 46,500 | 46,500 | 56,625 | 63,706 |
| All | 131,550 | 139,458 | 150,000 | 159,053 | 167,786 |
| Community foundations, by assets | |||||
| $250-million and over | $162,500 | $176,366 | $188,754 | $200,292 | $224,750 |
| $100-million-$249.9-million | 102,000 | 110,000 | 115,000 | 125,500 | 136,500 |
| $50-million-$99.9-million | 78,750 | 85,000 | 95,000 | 100,000 | 112,500 |
| $25-million-$49.9-million | 65,000 | 70,000 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 81,143 |
| $10-million-$24.9-million | 54,080 | 57,750 | 62,500 | 67,000 | 72,000 |
| Under $10-million | 48,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 55,500 | 62,000 |
| All | 71,750 | 78,000 | 84,500 | 90,000 | 95,000 |
| BENEFITS FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVES | ||||||
| By size of foundation assets | ||||||
| $10-million to $24.9-million | $25-million to $49.9-million | $50-million to $99.9-million | $100-million to $249.9-million | $250-million and over | All | |
| Offer special benefits only to chief executive | 41.6% | 39.6% | 55.0% | 62.2% | 54.7% | 47.7% |
| Benefits offered: | ||||||
| Car | 21.3 | 25.0 | 37.7 | 50.8 | 51.7 | 36.5 |
| Cellular/car phone | 51.1 | 40.9 | 41.0 | 31.1 | 25.9 | 36.8 |
| Club memberships | 36.2 | 25.0 | 32.8 | 39.3 | 41.4 | 33.6 |
| Entertainment budget | 10.6 | 13.6 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 7.9 |
| Airline club membership | 4.3 | 2.3 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 10.3 | 5.3 |
| Housing or housing subsidy | 0.0 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 4.9 | 10.3 | 3.9 |
| Matching gifts to charity | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 1.6 |
| Parking | 12.8 | 9.1 | 13.1 | 13.1 | 10.3 | 12.2 |
| Personal computer | 4.3 | 6.8 | 14.8 | 11.5 | 0.0 | 7.6 |
| Professional dues | 29.8 | 18.2 | 21.3 | 14.8 | 6.9 | 19.7 |
| Relocation expenses | 8.5 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 6.3 |
| Sabbatical | 0.0 | 2.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 3.4 | 4.3 |
| Annual physical exam | 2.1 | 2.3 | 9.8 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 6.9 |
| Supplemental disability insurance | 23.4 | 11.4 | 13.1 | 9.8 | 10.3 | 13.2 |
| Supplemental life insurance | 17.0 | 15.9 | 11.5 | 23.0 | 13.8 | 16.1 |
| Supplemental medical insurance | 4.3 | 15.9 | 6.6 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 8.2 |
| Supplemental retirement plan | 4.3 | 11.4 | 8.2 | 13.1 | 17.2 | 10.9 |
| Supplemental vacation time | 19.1 | 9.1 | 3.3 | 9.8 | 10.3 | 10.9 |
| Other | 6.4 | 18.2 | 9.8 | 6.6 | 8.6 | 10.5 |
| Note: Does not include corporate foundations. | ||||||
| SALARY GROWTH, 1998-2002 | ||||
| Chief executive officers | ||||
| Private foundations | Community foundations | |||
| Salary | In 1998 dollars | Salary | In 1998 dollars | |
| 1998 | $131,550 | $131,550 | $71,750 | $71,750 |
| 1999 | 139,458 | 137,253 | 78,000 | 76,767 |
| 2000 | 150,000 | 143,021 | 84,500 | 80,569 |
| 2001 | 159,053 | 146,477 | 90,000 | 82,884 |
| 2002 | 167,786 | 152,782 | 95,000 | 86,504 |
| Program officers | ||||
| Private foundations | Community foundations | |||
| Salary | In 1998 dollars | Salary | In 1998 dollars | |
| 1998 | $74,200 | $74,200 | $45,770 | $45,770 |
| 1999 | 74,400 | 73,224 | 47,067 | 46,323 |
| 2000 | 76,252 | 72,704 | 47,618 | 45,403 |
| 2001 | 80,100 | 73,767 | 48,929 | 45,060 |
| 2002 | 84,000 | 76,488 | 51,750 | 47,122 |
| STAFF MEMBERS | |||||||
| By type of foundation | |||||||
| Community | Corporate | Family | Independent | Public | All | ||
| Average number of full-time paid staff members | 7.9 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 12.0 | 9.0 | 8.2 | |
| Professional staff members, by gender: | |||||||
| Men | 20.4% | 19.0% | 27.1% | 27.7% | 24.9% | 24.4% | |
| Women | 79.6 | 81.0 | 72.9 | 72.3 | 75.1 | 75.6 | |
| Professional staff members, by race: | |||||||
| White | 80.9 | 69.1 | 81.4 | 71.3 | 69.1 | 75.5 | |
| Minority | 19.1 | 30.9 | 18.6 | 28.7 | 30.9 | 24.5 | |
SOURCE: Council on Foundations
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