More Than Half of Charities Made Staff Cutbacks, Survey Finds

By Heather Joslyn

More than half of nonprofit organizations say they froze workers’ salaries or furloughed employees this year, according to a new survey of nonprofit wages and benefits.

The survey by Opportunity Knocks, in Atlanta, which runs an online database of nonprofit job listings, compared that finding to a happier statistic: Three-quarters of organizations the previous year reported a jump in their workers’ salaries, with an average pay raise of 5.6 percent among those groups.

Ten percent of organizations said their workers’ pay decreased this year by anywhere from 1 to 50 percent. Only 37 percent of organizations said they had increased salaries this year and that the average raise offered was 3.2 percent.

The survey of more than 2,100 nonprofit organizations nationwide was conducted by Opportunity Knocks in August, September, and early October

Employee benefits were also examined by the survey. Among the findings:

Eighty percent of all organizations said they offer their workers health insurance in 2009 (down from 88 percent the previous year). Among all groups, 35 percent said they pay 100 percent of their employees’ premiums (down from 40 percent in 2008), and 72 percent of employers said they offer health insurance to workers’ dependents this year (up from 66 percent in 2008).

One quarter of nonprofit employers surveyed offer benefits to their workers’ domestic partners.

Only one in three organizations offer any kind of contribution to their employees’ retirement plans.

Among non-insurance-related benefits, professional development opportunities are the most prevalent, offered by 49 percent of organizations this year, down from 57 percent in 2008.

Copies of “Opportunity Knocks: 2010 Wage and Benefits Report” are available for $49.95 each through the organization’s Web site or by calling (888) 656-6257.

Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy