You may want to change the world and love your job working in the nonprofit sector, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to pay your bills on time. So when those salary survey participation offers show up in your inbox—or that of your boss—it’s a pretty good opportunity to learn something.
Believe or not, most employers want to pay their staff competitive wages. The cost of training can be high, and turnover is rough on everyone. Knowing what the competition is paying for similar jobs is important to attracting and retaining happy staff. Understanding the bucks and perks being offered down the street can help you when it comes time to negotiate a compensation package. Recent reports note that the Supply/Demand rate stands at 1.4 unemployed persons for each advertised vacancy—so a little homework is in order.
Ranjita Chattopadhyay is a writer for Paycheck India. And although you may not be contemplating a move to India, he didn’t mince words about the value of employees, employers, and candidates reading salary reports. In his article about the importance of salary surveys for the employee and employer, Ranjita summarily writes: “The most valuable information that employees get out of such surveys is whether they are getting their actual worth or not. You can compare your salary with those of others occupying similar positions and equally qualified as you are. Thus, you will get a clear picture about whether you are underpaid or rightly paid by your employer. If you are planning to switch to a different sector, you can check out what others are being paid at your level in a particular industry. Knowing what the industry standard is will help you when negotiating your salary with a current employer or it can help you frame a figure in your mind so that you can negotiate well with your future employer.”
A good source for salary information and staffing trends is the PNP Staffing Group Nonprofit Salaries & Staffing Report. You (and your employer) should read the PNP report. It not only provides sector salary information, but reviews the benefits considered most important by employees. You can use the salary information as an added point in your negotiations but keep in mind, that there is a lot more to job satisfaction than money.