The salaries of fundraisers in the North East have fallen by an average of 18 per cent since 2009, according to a report released last week.

The Voluntary Organisations' Network North East (Vonne) has released a report showing that the salaries of people working in the charity sector in the North East have fallen by an average of 12 per cent, when taking into account the impact of inflation.  

The report reveals that fundraisers were most affected by the decrease, with their incomes falling an average of 18 per cent in "real terms" from 2009 to the present day. Their salaries are shown to be down 10 per cent before accounting for inflation. The salaries of chief executives are down by the second most significant figure at 14 per cent, or 5.4 per cent before inflation.

Vonne, the support body for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in the North East, looked at data gathered through the 1,500 job vacancies advertised on its website and compared the salaries for a range of roles back to 2009. It found salaries of those in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector had fallen by an average of 3.4 per cent, before accounting for inflation.

The impact of inflation was added using the consumer price index between 2009-11 and 2012-14 to calculate the average “real” wage value of the job categories.

The report indicated the causes of the decreases could be partly down to budget cuts and high unemployment in the North East.

Carrie Brookes, a spokeswoman for Vonne said: "We believe the falls are due to the impact of austerity measures filtering through to charities delivering services on behalf of public bodies who themselves have faced huge cuts. Our members tell us that budgets have been cut in the past few years, but often contracts expect the same level of service.”

Brookes also attributed competition for jobs as being a major factor in the decline. She said the unemployment in the region leaves a larger “talent pool” available, meaning charities can still attract candidates at lower rates than in previous years.

Brookes added that the figures fail to show that as wages are going down, demand for services in the North East are going up, job insecurity is rising and jobs are being lost.