ACEVO today publishes its annual Pay Survey, which this year indicates the continued pressure of the national economy on charity finances and charity pay.
You can purchase a copy of the full survey report here
This year’s survey was sponsored by Peridot, and was conducted in partnership with Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).
In his introduction to this year’s edition ACEVO CEO Sir Stephen Bubb emphasised how “the survey shows the impact of a difficult economic and political situation”.
Top line findings were:
The gender pay gap across all charities fell slightly from last year, with median female pay 16.3% lower than median male pay (18.6% last year)
Average CEO pay in the ACEVO sample fell from £60,000 to £55,000, a real-terms decrease of 5.9% (given 1.9% RPI)
- 91.2% of CEO respondents stated their ethnicity as white
- 100% of chairs sampled saying the same
- 97.2% of trustee respondents stated their ethnicity as white
- Median CEO pay was highest in London (at £68,000) and lowest in Wales (at £37,849)
Grant Taylor, Director of survey sponsors Peridot, said in his introduction:
“The Pay Survey data show encouraging though small levels of progress in diversifying third sector leadership. But the sector is still far from representative of the communities it serves, and far from reaching the fairness that our society should aim for.
“91.2% of CEO respondents are of white ethnicity – an improvement on last year’s figure but still far from the 83.4% that would ensure full representation.”
Commenting on the survey’s results, Sir Stephen Bubb said:
“This year’s Pay Survey shows the scale of the challenge for the third sector in its continuing drive to be more representative of the communities it serves.
“The fact pay has fallen shows how charities are taking a responsible position on pay in difficult economic times. But we must not be afraid of setting professional pay levels, and arguing the case for salaries that recruit and retain the best people – as well as offering value for money.
“I’m confident that with our new chair Paul Farmer, CEO of Mind, ACEVO will be leading the way in promoting social leadership as an aspiration for all.”
Commenting on the survey, Jenny Berry, Director of Leadership and Director of ACEVO North said:
“Social leaders consistently tell us this is one of the most valuable resources we produce. It informs trustees, staff and beneficiaries about senior pay in the third sector. It informs the work ACEVO’s doing to promote wider representation of its beneficiaries across the charity sector, through our Special Interest Groups on Women Leaders and Black and Minority Ethnic Leaders amongst other programmes.
Commenting on ACEVO’s work to widen participation in social leadership, Jenny Berry said:
“Widening participation is an issue the new ACEVO board are taking very seriously. We’re partnering with leading recruiters and with other umbrella bodies to identify and address the systemic barriers to wider participation. We’re working hard to diversify our own membership and looking to offer bursaries for leadership development. Our Annual Women CEOs Summit, in September, will focus strongly on these issues, and aim to influence the next government’s agenda.”
