2022 Compensation and Benefits Study

2022 Compensation and Benefits Study

Together SC conducted a sweeping compensation and benefits study in 2022 to help our state’s nonprofit and philanthropic organizations better understand pay rates for key positions in nonprofit organizations, benefits (especially health insurance) offered by nonprofits, and the impact of the Covid pandemic on the health of nonprofit organizations, the sector overall, and identify challenges ahead. Mary Dell Hayes, peer network facilitator with Together SC, joined us via Zoom to share the study’s finding and considerations for nonprofits and funders.

Our top five takeaways:

  1. Compensation in nonprofits in SC is not always competitive. Pay disparities by gender and race persist in nonprofit leadership, and entry level staff are not always paid a living wage.
  2. Offering health insurance is not the norm among SC nonprofits. Barely half of responding nonprofits offer health insurance to their full-time staff, compared to 66% of North Carolina nonprofits and 73% of civilian organizations (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) in the South Atlantic region.
  3. HR policies and practices have impact. The survey showed that the following three practices used in combination are strongly associated with reduced disparities in compensation by gender and race: listing salary ranges with job postings, conducting COLA and merit-based annual reviews, and conducting compensation equity analyses.
  4. Affordable health insurance and other benefits are newly available. Together SC now offers an association health plan and a group retirement plan, and they also have started a partnership with First Sun EAP to offer their Employee Assistance services to member organizations. Employee Assistance Programs can be a helpful tool in keeping your staff healthy, happy, and importantly, working with the nonprofit organization.
  5. This is an opportunity for funders and nonprofits to work together to consider systems issues that impact pay as well as organizational-level capacity and fiscal health to ensure that nonprofit jobs are appealing and aligned with larger community goals around equity.

Special thanks to the team at Together SC, plus the Jolley Foundation for joining us in providing funding for the study. The study was designed and authored by Kahle Strategic Insights: Robert W. Kahle, Ph.D. and Gloria Roderick, MPA

Resources:
Executive summary of study
Slide deck from presentation

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