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Report: Gender, job dissatisfaction fuel fundraisers’ salary gaps
Written on Aug 7, 2024
Tax-exempt organizations often strive to bring equity, social justice and other forms of fairness to their client communities as part of mission. Often, however, these egalitarian impulses are ignored within their own operations.
According to new data from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), males employed as fundraisers earned 10% more in salary, on average, than females even after factors such as organization size, taking time off for child rearing, education and experience were factored in.
The data is included in the 2024 Compensation and Benefits Study by the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy.
Within American nonprofits — the study examined trends among fundraisers at exempt organizations in both Canada and the United States — annual pay for women averaged $92,882, while men pulled in $114,93, according to those surveyed. That gap would require increases of 21.2% to bring women’s salaries to parity.
The salary issue represents the biggest disparity between men and women within nonprofits, but it is not the only one. Within U.S. nonprofits, 47% of survey respondents indicated their organization’s boards were at least half women and 41% said a minimum of one-quarter of their board membership was from groups traditionally underrepresented in leadership roles.
Canadian respondents reported mixed results in terms of equity, with half saying their boards were at least 50% women but only 30% indicating their boards had at least 25% representation from underrepresented groups.
Beyond gender disparities, the study found compensation was correlated with an organization’s overall budget, as opposed to funds raised. Across the board, salaries were stagnant between 2022 and 2023. Within the United States, average salaries reported by survey participants increased 0.8% from $95,851 in 2022 to $96,621 in 2023.
In Canada, average salaries slipped 1.3% from $99,814 in 2022 to $98487 last year. But a few outliers might have slightly skewed these results: within the United States, the median salary rose 0.7% from $82,400 in 2022 to $83,000, while in Canada the median salary increased by 2.3% between the years, from $88,000 to $90,000.
U.S. fundraisers who are certified fundraising executives (CFRE) reported higher salary than those who are not. Overall, CFREs reported an average salary of $117,147 and a median salary of $105,929, while those who had not been certified claimed average salaries of $98,749 and median salaries of $85,000. Most respondents did not attain these salary levels until they had worked at least 10 years as fundraisers.
Among those considering alternative employment — whether with another organization or on a self-employed basis — discontent regarding salary was a key motivator. Often the internal push for different employment was correlated with salary deficiencies: U.S. respondents who said they had looked for a job earned an average of 4% less than the national average, while Canadian respondents who sought new employment pulled in 11% less.
Overall, however, 75% of those surveyed believe they will remain in their current positions through 2024, with 79% of those based in the United States and 73% located in Canada anticipating higher compensation in 2024 than in 2023. (The study was conducted during the first two months of 2024.)
The study’s other findings include:
Health coverage is table stakes in terms of compensation, with 94% of organizations offering one form or another of it.
More than 85% (94% in the United States, 87% in Canada) of nonprofits provide at least one form of retirement benefits. In the United States these usually took the form of a 403(b) plan (offered by 53%) or a 401(k) account (provided by 49%). A handful of organizations offered both.
Other forms of pre-tax benefits include professional dues (offered by 74% of U.S nonprofits and 73% of Canadian nonprofits); long-term disability (provided by 69% of U.S nonprofits and 79% of Canadian nonprofits); and either a cell phone or cell phone plan allowance (44% in the United States and 74% in Canada).