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Fundraisers’ salaries edged up slightly last year, according to a new study by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Salaries for the more than 2,500 U.S. fundraisers surveyed increased by less than 1 percent during 2023 to a median of $83,000.
While compensation over all grew slightly, it did not keep up with inflation, which rose 4.1 percent in 2023.
After several years of increases — salaries were up 6.4 percent in 2022 — pay has plateaued, says consultant Colton C. Strawser who coauthored the report and is executive director of the North Texas Nonprofit Institute. “Salaries adjusted last year, and this year they are staying with those adjustments,” he says.
Because inflation is nuanced and often different from one place to another, nonprofit leaders are moving away from automatic 3 percent annual raises, he says. For example, national groups might have different salary levels for different cities. “A lot of agencies are more mindful of what a cost of living increase means,” he says.
When it comes to pay equity, the picture is a little murkier. The gender pay gap remains a stubborn problem for fundraisers. Women fundraisers earned 21 percent less than their male counterparts. Women earned an average of $92,882, compared with men’s average of $114,938, according to the survey of about 3,000 AFP members (2,562 were based in the United States and 393 in Canada), conducted online in January and February.
Fundraisers of color in the survey out-earned their white colleagues on average, but that may not reflect the experience of most fundraisers of color. On average, compensation for fundraisers identifying as Hispanic, Asian, Black, Indigenous, or people of color was 7 percent higher than that for those identifying as white, averaging $101,882. However, when measured using the median salary — the middle salary of those responding to the survey — white fundraisers earned slightly more than the median salary for people of color.
Part of the reason that there isn’t a clear picture of the pay for BIPOC fundraisers is that only 384 BIPOC fundraisers responded to the survey, compared with 1,757 white fundraisers. The sample size is very small, and roles may not have been comparable between the two groups. He says there is much more research to do to better understand the inequities fundraisers face, including pay equity for women of color, a group that other research shows faces significant obstacles to pay and career equity.
Progress on diversity in staffing is also mixed. Thirty-eight percent of participants said that a quarter or more of their fundraising staff were from groups underrepresented in professional positions. However, about half of respondents said that less than 10 percent of their fundraising staffs were from underrepresented groups.
Those results also varied depending on the group’s mission. Organizations that serve underrepresented communities were more likely to have a larger share of people of color on their fundraising staffs.
Leaders can rest easy knowing that fundraisers are unlikely to leave for another job this year, according to the survey — 77 percent are content to stay put. And it seems that paying staff well is an important incentive. According to the survey, fundraisers that expect to leave their jobs earn less on average than the average pay for those positions.
Many fundraisers who answered open-ended questions in the survey were interested in work-life balance and flexibility — things like unlimited vacation time, summer Fridays off, or closing for a week in July, Strawser says.
Differences in Salaries
How much fundraisers earn has a lot to do with the kind of nonprofits they work for, their certifications and education, as well as where they work.
Fundraisers who work at larger organizations earn more than twice as much as those who work for smaller groups. Those who work for nonprofits with budgets of less than $250,000 earn an average of $62,129. Fundraisers who work at organizations with the largest budgets — $100 million or more — earn an average of $150,231. Those working for international groups earned the most, whereas those who worked for groups focused on local issues earned the least.
There were also significant differences based on geographic location. Development professionals working for organizations in California, Oregon, and Washington State earned the most — an average of $110,167 — versus those in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, who earned an average of $84,597.
While some of the factors that determine salary are out of fundraisers’ control, there are some things fundraisers can do that are likely to improve their pay. According to the study, having more education — especially advanced degrees — and being a Certified Fundraising Executive were both correlated with increased incomes.
That is the result of a long effort to professionalize the field though graduate and certificate programs, Strawser says. “We’re seeing more people getting trained and educated on what it means to run a successful nonprofit,” he says. “If we want to see societal change happen, we really need to have strong individuals at all levels of an organization. It’s great to see that.”
