Median foundation salary totals $70,000

PJ staff report | June 27, 2011

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Foundation salaries

The median salary at U.S. foundations totaled $70,000 in 2010, a new report says.

For 2010, 62 percent of funders expected to increase or already had increased staff salaries from 2009, with the median increase or planned increase totaling 3 percent, the same increase as in 2009, says the Council on Foundations' 2010 Grantmakers Salary and Benefit Report.

In the past five years, the report says, median foundation salaries have grown 10.8 percent, including a median increase of 20 percent for CEOs and chief giving officers, and 13 percent for program officers.

Among 34 staff positions studied, program officers accounted for the largest share of reported staff, or 11 percent, and had a median income of $80,000.

The median salary for CEOs at foundations and chief giving officers at corporate foundations totaled $150,000, with 21 percent of CEOs and 61 percent of chief giving officers also receiving a bonus.

The median compensation for CEOs and chief giving officers totaled $205,000 at independent foundations, $176,000 at family foundations, $130,000 at public foundations and $111,807 at community foundations.

Independent foundations reported the highest median salary, at $89,500, while community foundations reported the lowest, at $59,410, says the report, which is based on an online survey of 740 foundations and corporate grantmakers that reported salaries for a total of 6,478 full-time employees.

Foundations in the Northeast and West reported the highest median salaries, or $78,175 and $72,050, respectively.

Over 96 percent of foundations responding to the survey offered voluntary benefits to full-time staff beyond those legally required, and 93 percent offered benefits beyond paid leave, with the median costs of those benefit representing 27 percent of salaries.

Ninety-four percent of foundations offered some type of retirement or pension plan.

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