Posted on February 13, 2006

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Foundation Salary Growth Slightly Outpaces Inflation, Report Finds

Salary increases in 2005 for foundation employees stayed just ahead of inflation, a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Foundations finds.

According to the 2005 Grantmakers Salary and Benefits Report, inflation-adjusted salaries for grantmaker CEOs increased an average of 2.7 percent a year at private foundations and 2.9 percent a year at community foundations from 2001 through 2005. The report also found that the inflation-adjusted salaries of program officers increased by 0.9 percent a year at private foundations and 1.4 percent a year at community foundations over the same period.

In other findings, an overwhelming majority of the respondents (97.9 percent) indicated that their foundations offered full-time employees voluntary benefits, in addition to required benefits. According to respondents, the median cost of total staff benefits, required and voluntary, as a percentage of total salaries was 26 percent. The report also found that most grantmakers cover 100 percent of the cost of health benefits for individual employees.

The report is based on responses from 742 foundations and corporate giving programs, employing a total of 6,145 full-time employees. Of the 742 respondents, sixty-nine were corporate grantmakers (foundations or direct-giving programs), while 673 were community, private (family or independent), or public foundations.

To view or download an executive summary (6 pages, PDF) of the report, visit: http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Research/2005%20Salary/2005_Salary_and_Benefits_Report_Executive_Summary.pdf.

“Annual Report Released on Grantmaker Salaries.” Council on Foundations Press Release 2/09/06.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): National

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