Report helps nonprofits compete in small market

The ASU Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management (CNLM) has released its 2007 Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report for Maricopa County and Pima County nonprofit organizations. The report contains compensation data for 8,375 nonprofit employees across 82 nonprofit positions, findings on employee retirement, insurance, paid time off, and detailed salary and demographic information on executive directors.

This is the third publication in the nonprofit compensation research series conducted by CNLM. The center researches and reports on nonprofit compensation and benefits every three years, and this is the first year the study has included Pima County.

“Nonprofits need timely information to make informed decisions about employee compensation practices to be competitive in the race for human resource talent,” says Robert Ashcraft, director of CNLM and a professor of nonprofit studies. “Our study fills an important information gap that, when used to inform decisions, can inspire confidence among board members, donors and volunteers who benefit from the localized comparative data produced by ASU as a service to the region.”

The report is an accumulation of data reported by numerous nonprofit organizations on their key positions. The information is critical to nonprofit managers to remain competitive in an environment marked by a small pipeline of experienced practitioners.

“We are a smaller agency and don’t have the time and resources to easily do a comprehensive study of nonprofit salaries,” says Scott Blades, executive director of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN). “We want to stay competitive and attract the best candidates to serve on our staff, and knowing the industry standards for compensation – both salary and benefits – helps us to do that. We are grateful to the center for providing this important resource for nonprofits in Maricopa and Pima counties.”

The report also reveals interesting demographics within the sector. Similar to the for-profit sector, male chief executive officers make more money than females in all budget categories, with the notable exception of mid-size organizations. The gap is nearly 19 percent salary difference for male CEOs over female CEOs. Another wide gap revealed in the data is an average 14 percent salary difference for nonprofit employees in Maricopa County over those in Pima County.

The report is available to nonprofit organizations for $113, and $277 for all other organizations and individuals. A brief highlight of the report is available on the CNLM Web site http://nonprofit.asu.edu.