Competitive Nonprofit Wages Are Important

Legislation just passed that prohibits employers from asking job candidates for their salary history. This is great news. In the nonprofit sector, employers can no longer base their salary offers on how much the candidate previously made; in contrast to other sectors, these numbers are notoriously low.
But, how is an employer supposed to know fair compensation rates?

The answer lies in the Center for Nonprofit Management’s Compensation and Benefits Report. Every year, approximately 400 nonprofit organizations in Southern California participate in the survey to define comparable compensation data for various staff positions respective to an organization’s budget, responsibilities assigned, and geographic location.

Unfortunately, recent survey results have not provided a clear picture of benefits and compensation in San Luis Obispo or Kern Counties due to low participation among nonprofits in those regions. CNPM states, “The strength of the C+B Report survey is the diversity and volume of participants.” Toward that end, CNPM is urging Central Coast and Central California nonprofits to complete the survey prior to February 16, 2018. So, Spokes Members, let’s contribute our data to the C+B report for the survey’s benefit – and ours!

Completing the survey requires one individual from your organization to complete two questionnaires – one specific to compensation and bonuses paid to your organization’s employees, and another specific to employee benefits. The questionnaires are online and no more than 20 minutes is required to complete both of them. The most appropriate person to answer the survey is typically the Executive Director or CEO as s/he will need to know your organization’s operating budget, the salary and related job responsibilities for each staff position, and your organization’s personnel policies specific to health/retirement benefits, time off, paid leave and telecommuting practices.

The deadline to participate in the survey is February 16, 2018.

Once it’s published Spokes will have a copy of the 2018 C&B Report in our resource library to share with all of you. Thank you, in advance, for contributing your data to ensure that this resource is as valuable and relevant as it can be to our local nonprofit sector!