There is an online tool at the Chronicle of Philanthropy where you can get a rough idea of the salaries paid to nonprofit workers in various positions, and broken out by gender. The tool is based on GuideStar's recent report on nonprofit compensation.
These figures are not indicative of the salary levels in any particular state, city or town in the US. But they do provide something to go on should you be considering a job in the nonprofit sector.
Two things stand out for me:
- The larger the organization, the higher the pay for just about all of the positions and regardless of gender.
- Men get paid more almost always, no matter the organization's size or the position. I saw one notable exception, and that was for top tech jobs in the largest nonprofits. Women seem to be doing well there. Also, the gap was narrower for development officers and PR officials. The most glaring gap seems to be at the executive level in the largest organizations.
The good news is that, according to GuideStar, the gender gap has narrowed for many organizations, and there has been an increase in the number of female nonprofit CEOs.
It's not news that the nonprofit sector mirrors the larger culture when it comes to paying women equally with men. Plus, there are other issues with nonprofit employment, from rather high salaries for some nonprofit executives, to low salaries for the rank and file, to the high turnover of nonprofit staff. If one wishes to worry about nonprofit employment, there are plenty of issues.
Nevertheless, people continue to flock to nonprofit work. There are some 10.7 million nonprofit jobs in the US, making the nonprofit sector the third largest one in terms of employment. Besides that, nonprofit employment actually grew during the recession while other parts of the economy lost jobs.
The comparison tool at the Chronicle is fun to play around with. How do the data match up to what you're seeing in your organization? Why do you think the gender gap does not exist for high level tech jobs and is closing for development? I have some hunches but would like to hear yours.
Read more about nonprofit jobs/careers:
- Why People Want to Work for Nonprofits
- Have You Thought About Getting a Job in Fundraising?
- Why Do You Work in Nonprofit? Share Your Story
Photo: Nick M Do/Getty Images
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