The state of pay - a deep dive into for-purpose sector pay
This year, Do Good Jobs and McLaren Recruitment embarked on an ambitious project aimed at gathering salary and benefits data specifically from organisations across the for-purpose and impact sector.
While this year’s sample size was relatively small, the findings provide interesting insights into the state of pay across the for-purpose sector and how things compare both to the wider job market and within the sector. In this blog, we’re covering some of the highlights. If you’d like to read the full report, you can download it here.
For-purpose pay may not be as low as anecdotal evidence suggests
Pay in the for-purpose sector is often assumed to be significantly lower than the public and private sectors.
But the survey data showed that the median pay for many role types within the for-purpose sector was closer to wider job market median pay levels than expected. While for-purpose organisations cannot always be competitive, it does go some way to busting the myth that all for-purpose work is low-paid.
The more senior the role, the bigger the pay gap between organisation types
For entry-level roles, the pay at registered charities is roughly equivalent to that at “not-for- profits” (other purpose-led organisations such as incorporated societies, membership organisations and not-for-profits not registered as charities). But by the time you get to senior manager level, the pay gap between the two organisations is 72%
Benefits are often added to remuneration packages
More than half of respondents offered professional development budgets, nearly half offered additional leave options and nearly half offered flexible working arrangements.
Hybrid working is now the norm, with just over 60% of the recorded roles having hybrid arrangements.
Funding sources make a difference
The survey asked organisations where their income comes from - trading revenue, grants, investments, or other sources. As part of the analysis, this was laid over salary data and the results showed that having more diverse funding sources improves median pay.
Organisations that received most of their income through grants had lower median pay than those that had trading income (income from fees, contracts or commercial activity). There was a 22% pay gap between working at a charity that relies on grants to keep the lights on and one that has more diverse income sources.
Hiring and salary growth is slowing
At the time of responding 41% of organisations had grown their headcount in the past year, but only 26% planned to grow this year. The pattern played out with salary levels too, with 77% increasing pay last year but only 68% planning to do so in the coming year.
Uncertainty is impacting growth
The past year has been turbulent in the job market, and with unemployment high, inflation at high levels and the cost of living rising, that uncertainty seems likely to stay for a while yet. That’s reflected in some hesitancy around pay and hiring growth.
Caution remains, despite indications that the overall job market may be recovering somewhat, with continued uncertainty around government funding, charitable donations and the shifting political scenarios in an election year.
The country as a whole and the for-purpose sector in particular is already working in a culture of more-for-less.
Our survey shows a sector that is surviving, but not always thriving. Its data has been collected in the midst of a challenging time for the for-purpose sector and the country as a whole.
Despite this, we see organisations working hard to provide services and make a positive impact across Aotearoa New Zealand. We acknowledge the hard work done by every team member of these organisations.
We look forward to building on this year’s report with future work in this space. We encourage you to look out for the next survey and take part to help us build an even better picture of for-purpose pay.
If you’d like to read the full report, you can download a copy including the raw data tables.
