Salaries for charity finance directors reduced by 7.6 per cent over the last year, CFG’s latest pay survey suggests.

However, this may be something of a correction following a substantial spike the year before.

And encouragingly, there was a significant drop in the numbers of organisations that had made redundancies, both within the finance function and across the board.

Just 8 per cent of responding charities had cut jobs within their organisation, compared with 40 per cent last year, and 2 per cent had made redundancies within the finance team, down from 11 per cent in 2012.

Salaries

The 2013 People and Pay Survey also suggests that 53 per cent of charities gave their staff pay rises last year, and that 58 per cent expect to do so this year. The average value of increases was 2 per cent.

The average salary for a finance director, based on responses from the 358 charities that took part in the survey, was £61,429, down from £66,531 last year and £63,600 in 2011.

Salaries for most other job functions remained flat or fell slightly compared with last year.

However, the regional pay gap narrowed this year, with employees in London and the South East earning, on average, just 10 per cent more than their peers in the regions. Last year this gap was 20 per cent.

Fewer women in top jobs

Three in five finance directors in the charities that responded were men, down from 65 per cent last year. This decline chimes with findings from Charity Finance magazine’s latest survey of FDs at the top 100 charities – last year just 18 were women, compared with 22 in 2010, 24 in 2008 and 25 in 2006.

Recruitment of finance staff from the private sector increased significantly, from 13 per cent to 24 per cent, making it the first year that recruitment from the private sector surpassed recruitment from the public sector. Just one in ten charities had appointed from the public sector, down from three in ten in 2011 and 22 per cent last year.

Recession and stress

Results also showed that more than eight in ten charity finance staff regularly work more than their contracted hours, with half working 20 per cent more – the equivalent of an extra day every week.

Four in ten respondents said the economic downturn had increased their workload, rising to 57 per cent at those charities funded mainly by public service contracts. Some 36 per cent said their personal stress level had risen as a result of the recession.

Remit and responsibilities

Two-thirds of finance directors have responsibility for IT, 63 per cent for their charity’s legal affairs, and 51 per cent for property and facilities. Respondents spent, on average, 30 per cent of their time on strategy and development; more if they held senior posts. More than eight in ten were satisfied with their jobs.

CFG chief Caron Bradshaw (pictured) said that while money remained tight, charities should explore other ways of attracting and retaining staff, such as offering flexible working and training.

Subscribers to civilsociety.co.uk can read Caron Bradshaw's take on the survey results here.