Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Indianapolis nonprofit salary survey

By Bryan Orander, president, Charitable Advisors

As we put the finishing touches on the 2014 Indianapolis Nonprofit Salary Report, it doesn't seem possible that this is our third. 


And as with past publications, it is our hope that the nonprofit community will use it widely. This bi-annual project was initiated four years ago to provide Central Indiana nonprofits with data that would help recruit and retain quality staffs. Based on what was happening in other communities, we thought that local nonprofits would find this resource an important tool for making informed decisions. It also was designed to provide board and staff leadership with the information needed to effectively lead their organizations and comply with IRS executive-compensation regulations.

Again this year, there is no charge to our readers because the generosity of our sponsors - FirstPerson, National Bank of Indianapolis, Delivra and VonLehman CPA - who provided funds to help the local nonprofit community make informed decisions. Their underwriting allowed us to collect data from 321 Central Indiana nonprofits, which is one of the largest nonprofit salary surveys in the country.

In a field where 100 to150 responses is the norm, it is important to note that this year responding organizations are up from 294 in 2012. We were also able to increase the data on leadership positions to 20, up from 12, and give the sector a wider range of common position titles.  

Over the past six years, it has been rewarding to hear from area nonprofits staffs that find that the survey provides useful benchmarking information, and allows them to compare salaries and benefits. Before this survey, there was no local reference point and organizations would either use national surveys or find similar local nonprofits to use as benchmarks. 

As in the past two reports, we also asked several questions of each participant about the trends in the sector.

Similar to two years ago, nonprofits identify the major obstacle to success as lack of funding. Although this year reflected fewer organizational funding cutbacks, an increasing number of respondents said their requests for services far exceed their ability to provide.



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