November 2, 2000 | Read Time: 2 minutes
By ELIZABETH SCHWINN
Executive directors at small to medium-size nonprofit groups in New York City earned an average of $62,388 last year, according to a new survey.
The survey of 50 organizations, most with budgets of less than $5-million, was commissioned by Community Resource Exchange, a New York organization that provides management advice to nonprofit groups. It found that directors of development at such groups in New York were paid an average of $58,839.
Average pay for two other key jobs: $57,731 for controller, and $42,913 for the top technology or information-systems job.
The survey found that small groups — those with one to five employees — paid their executive directors an average salary of $40,000 a year. The figure rose to $91,000 for executive directors of groups that employ more than 75 people.
More than half of the respondents had no formal salary ranges for jobs, and half did not conduct annual performance or salary reviews.
Fringe Benefits
When asked about benefits, 60 percent of the groups that responded said they provided health-insurance coverage only to full-time employees, while 10 percent said they did not offer any coverage at all. Two-thirds of the groups that provided health insurance paid 100 percent of the costs.
Other employee benefits were less common: Half of the groups surveyed said they did not offer life or long-term-disability insurance or a retirement plan. Only three of the groups in the survey said they offered any special benefits for executive positions.
Valyrie Laedlein, Community Resource Exchange’s deputy director, said the salary survey was designed to help small charities in big cities, which often have a hard time finding information to help them set employee compensation. Many surveys of small groups tend to cover broad geographic areas, she said, and therefore do not take into account discrepancies in housing and other prices.
“You can’t get an apartment in New York for under $1,000 a month,” Ms. Laedlein said. “Salaries of under $20,000 aren’t relevant here.”
The survey was conducted by Ellen Prior Consulting, in Westchester, N.Y., and Slope Resources, in Scotch Plains, N.J.
Copies of the survey results can be ordered for $50 each from Community Resource Exchange, 39 Broadway, 10th Floor, New York 10006; (202) 894-3394.
