By Caroline Preston

Male executives at charities in Central Florida earn nearly 30 percent more than their female counterparts, according to a new study.

The survey of 145 nonprofit groups in the region found that men who held the top job at a charity earned an average of $110,962, compared with $80,987 for women.

That pay gap is partially due to the fact that men are more likely to lead large organizations — which offer higher salaries — than are women, according to Margaret Linnane, executive director of the Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Fla., which conducted the survey.

But men tend to make more money even at smaller organizations, she said.

(The situation in Florida mirrors those found in a national study released last year by Guidestar. At the biggest organizations, female CEO’s earned 34.8 percent less than their male counterparts, according to Guidestar.)

Raises on Hold

The survey found that the recession has already started to chip into salary growth at Florida nonprofit groups.

Salaries for roughly 100 nonprofit jobs increased by an average of about 3.5 percent for the year ending in March 2008. By contrast, salaries rose by just 1.5 percent for the year ending in March 2009.

Only 47 percent of charities in the study expected to increase salaries this fiscal year, compared with 89 percent in a similar study conducted in 2007.

Benefits, too, are getting cut because of the recession, according to this year’s survey.

The number of charities paying 100 percent of the premium for employees’ health insurance declined to 47 percent, from 58 percent two years earlier.

“Nonprofits are looking at where they can save money, and unfortunately they are putting more of the burden on staff to continue their coverage,” Ms. Linnane said.

However, the percentage of nonprofit groups providing retirement benefits to employees increased slightly, to 68 percent from 62 percent in 2007, the survey found.

Roughly 11 percent of charity jobs in the survey paid less than the federal poverty level.

The study provides detailed information about employment practices at different types of nonprofit groups and compensation levels by position. It also looks at racial and ethnic diversity at Central Florida nonprofit groups.

A copy of the study, known as the 2009 Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report, can be purchased online. The cost is $139 each for nonprofit groups.