Fight for the Nonprofit Salary You Need

by Rosetta Thurman · 2009-07-02 06:10:00 UTC
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So you've been offered your dream nonprofit job. The problem is that the salary they offered you isn't even enough for you to pay your rent every month. What do you do?

Negotiate until you get the salary you need. Notice I said "need" not "want" because in this economy, it's unlikely that you'll get exactly the monetary salary that you want. And if you're a woman, it's even LESS likely, according to a new study of nonprofit salary disparities between men and women: Male Nonprofit Executives Earn 27% More Than Female Leaders, Study of Fla. Executives Finds

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.

Are lower salaries just a problem if you live in Florida? Uh uh.

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.

The bright side is that even if you don't end up geting the exact salary you want, you can opt to negotiate for other benefits to make up for the monetary compensation. At the end of the day, no matter what the mission, or how much you may like your co-workers, there really are only four reasons to accept a low nonprofit salary.

  • Generous vacation time - if they initially offer you 2 weeks, ask for 4 weeks as a trade-off

  • Fully paid health benefits - meaning health, dental, vision

  • Flexible scheduling - offers the option to work from home or hold a slash career (part-time job to supplement the low salary)

  • 403b retirement account - employee set-up to offer at least 3% match to your contributions

How have you handled salary negotiations when accepting a new nonprofit job?

Rosetta Thurman
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