Salaries Rise for Fund Raisers in New York

Increased competition for dollars and a weak economy prompted New York nonprofit groups to pay a premium to

ALSO SEE: Nonprofit Pay: Salary Ranges at Organizations in New York City

retain their most effective fund raisers, according to a new survey.

Nonprofit organizations in the city increased the pay of their senior managers and fund raisers by an average of 7 to 10 percent last year, the study found. The report also found that organizations eliminated fewer positions for senior managers and fund raisers last year than they did in 2001, when many groups made significant cutbacks as the economy sank in the aftermath of September 11.

"Nonprofit groups realize that they have very little choice if they want to prosper in an environment where they're seeing so many cutbacks," says Gayle A. Brandel, president of Professionals for NonProfits, the New York recruitment company that conducted the survey. "If they're not paying market salaries and filling vacant fund-raising positions, ultimately it will cut down on their ability to raise money."

Other types of nonprofit employees did not fare as well. Excluding senior staff members and fund raisers, salaries at New York nonprofit groups increased more modestly than in the previous two years, the report said, with most organizations providing adjustments of 3 to 5 percent.

More than 600 executive directors, chief financial officers, and personnel managers at New York nonprofit organizations provided information for the survey.

The report contains information on salaries at arts organizations, health-care groups, secondary schools, and social-service organizations for jobs in five areas: administration and management; communications, public relations, and marketing; finance; fund raising; and programs and education.

Fund raisers at small groups, with annual budgets less than $3-million, earned $60,000 to $80,000, while those at large groups, with annual budgets of more than $50-million, were paid $120,000 to $150,000, according to the report.

Executive directors at small groups earned $75,000 to $90,000, and those at large groups received $175,000 to $200,000.

Among other findings of the report:

• Though the effects of September 11 are "still lingering," Ms. Brandel says, there is "less of a nervousness" among groups because many have experienced fund-raising success in the past year. As a result, many nonprofit organizations in the survey said they expect to hire employees in 2003 to replace positions that had not been filled in the past two years.

• Respondents reported that 65 percent of employees who left their organizations took jobs with other nonprofit groups, suggesting that the "greatest competition for qualified staff is between nonprofit organizations," the report said.

Free copies of "Salary Survey 2002" are available from Professionals for NonProfits, 515 Madison Avenue, Suite 505, New York, N.Y. 10022; (212) 546-9091. The report also is available online at http://www.nonprofitstaffing.com/salary_survey_main.asp.