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Beyond the pay packet – what's in a salary survey?

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 3 Apr 2008

For a profession obsessed with money and how to raise more of it, it is no wonder fundraisers devour salary surveys from recruitment companies’ with relish. How accurate these analyses of recruitment companies’ clients are at measuring the fundraising careers market is limited, but they do show some interesting trends about where the job gaps are in the sector.

Two surveys published recently by charity recruitment specialists Harris Hill and The Kage Partnership both show marked increases in salaries for middle managers, especially in major donor fundraising where a shortage of applicants has pushed up demand.

This trend matches anecdotal evidence from the Institute of Fundraising, which is planning to carry out its own salary survey this summer. Amanda Shepherd, the Institute’s director of development, said: “There are a lot of people coming in and out of the sector. I’m sure we can do a better job of retaining and developing the talent we have already got.”

Corporate and direct marketing jobs are also becoming harder to fill and as a consequence salaries are on the rise. While Kage suggested this was due to a shortage of applicants from the commercial sector, Joanna Walsh, account manager at Harris Hill, said some charities were reluctant to take on candidates from the commercial world because of the cost of training them.

“It’s only certain charities that are able to consider commercial candidates. It’s a bit more of a risk and they would probably need to provide training before they saw results,” said Walsh.

Both surveys also reported a hike for directors of fundraising positions, most marked in London, yet showed that pay for heads of fundraising fell in the regions where a shortage of jobs mean competition for positions was much higher.

But whatever their pay packet, UK fundraisers should be happy their salaries are not going in the same direction as their peers in the US. The latest US statistics, published in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Compensation and Benefits Survey 2006, found the average salary for US fundraisers had fallen by 16 per cent from $80,685 (£41,700) in 2004 to $67,181 (£34,700) in 2005. While the top 25 per cent of fundraisers were paid an average of $80,000 (£41,000) or more, the bottom 25 per cent received less than $45,000 (£23,000).

Average fundraising salaries

• Director of fundraising (London) – £51,000 (£36,326)
• Director of fundraising (regional) – £45,000 (£44,000)
• Head of fundraising (London) – £40,644 (£43,094)
• Head of fundraising (regional) – £39,480 (£42,833)
• Fundraising manager (London) – £35,441 (£31,313)
• Fundraising manager (regional) – £30,979 (£27,602)
• Fundraising assistant (London) – £18,700 (£18,461)
• Fundraising assistant (regional) – £17,140 (£17,300)

Harris Hill Salary Survey 2007 (2006 figures in brackets)

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Who's Who: Gemma Ware