What does pay equity look like for nonprofits?
What does pay equity look like for nonprofits?
By Lindsay Jordan, Write On Founder + CEO
What exactly are they trying to hide? That was the first question that leapt to my mind when I learned that employees were discouraged - nay - forbidden from discussing their pay with each other at XYZ nonprofit, my employer at the time. Why would an organization care if we discussed our pay if they were paying us fairly?
According to An Analysis of Gender Pay Disparity in the Nonprofit Sector: An Outcome of Labor Motivation or Gendered Jobs?, the nonprofit sector pays men and women more equitably than the for-profit sector. That’s good. But gender pay disparities vary widely and depend on nonprofit industries. That’s bad.
One reason for this is the assumption that folks who engage in nonprofit work derive greater intrinsic value from their day-to-day tasks, particularly in industries that focus on direct services. Another is that nonprofit labor is still largely viewed as “women’s work,” a harmful stereotype leading to lower pay and egged on by the fact that the majority of nonprofit workers are women (more than 70% of fundraisers identify as female). This dangerous double-whammy means that even where there is greater equity in pay, wages are still lower than comparative for-profit work. And when you account for the intersection of race, parity begins to feel very far away indeed.
Anyone who has tried to pay their mortgage with intrinsic value or exclaimed to the phone company, “But… I’m a woman!” as their service is shut off will tell you exactly how far these assumptions will get you (and probably where to stick them).
And yet, they persist: discouraging employees from talking about their pay; refusing to post salary ranges in job listings; offering bonuses to some members of the team but not others… the list goes on.
Since the founding of our company, pay equity has been centered as a primary onramp in achieving philanthropic equity (a core value) and dismantling harmful wage practices frequently touted as “best practices” in the nonprofit (and for-profit) space. We frequently discuss our policies with clients to help guide internal conversations around implementing cultural change and moving toward community-centric or trauma-informed fundraising.
Our commitment to pay equity includes the following:
Compensation
Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA). Each year, all Write On Fundraising employees receive a COLA salary increase, a percentage determined by the Social Security Administration. Even during the lean times of the pandemic, Write On maintained its commitment to COLA increases for employees. Since our founding in 2018, wages at Write On have increased by more than 20% in annual COLA salary increases alone.
Including pay ranges in job listings. Pay at Write On is not based on previous earnings, but instead on the skills and requirements of the job being filled. We transparently include a pay range for every position listed. Candidates and current Write On employees need not guesstimate or engage in a posturing struggle to negotiate a salary or wonder how much a peer is making. We set and maintain the integrity of our starting salary ranges for all positions.
Standardized compensation. In addition to being upfront about what a position pays, Write On is also transparent about merit increases. Upon annual review, each employee is eligible for a performance-based pay increase of up to 3% of their annual salary or hourly rate.
PTO Bank. Paid time off (PTO) isn’t accrued at Write On, nor is it unlimited. The bank of PTO released to employees on January 1 of each year is based on tenure with the company, and this is intentional. Because most of the folks who join the Write On team come from a nonprofit background, many bring in the hard-to-break habit of not taking enough time off, or feeling like they have to hold on to their PTO for emergencies. Similarly, data has found that employees with unlimited PTO actually take less time off than their counterparts with allotted PTO. Given these two factors, Write On designed a policy that incentivizes using PTO and a culture that centers employee well-being.
Flexible schedule. All Write On employees are expected to complete their daily work (typically eight hours for full-time workers) within the designated 12-hour window of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST. They must also attend all client and staff meetings scheduled during the normal working hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. In this way, employees are given flexibility within their day for “life” - be that picking up kids from school, scheduling an appointment with the dentist, running across town to pick up a package, etc. Employees do not need to request PTO for any time away from work fewer than four hours as long as they are able to complete the minimum number of hours required for their position (typically eight hours) between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CST and they still attend scheduled client and staff meetings.
Protecting overtime pay. Write On is an early adopter of proposed legislation to increase the salary cap for non-exempt employees. Employees making less than $55,068 are classified as non-exempt at Write On, meaning they are paid hourly and, therefore, eligible for overtime pay. This is a significant expansion of overtime pay, as the proposed legislation increases the minimum annual salary for most exempt employees paid on a salary basis from $35,568.
Retirement planning. More than 50% of nonprofits offer retirement planning options to their employees, which is actually a greater percentage than the for-profit sector! To continue this important accumulation of wealth, Write On currently offers a matching 401K and indexed retirement accounts.
Quarterly incentives. All employees of Write On are rewarded when the company performs well. At the start of each year, the CEO (ahem - me) sets four performance metrics per quarter and assigns an incentive for meeting all of the metrics that quarter. The metrics typically include revenue, client retention, lead acquisition, and employee retention metrics that all staff members can contribute to through their work. Incentives typically include additional PTO, holiday pay, and cash bonuses.
Company performance-based bonus. In addition to individual performance-based salary increases of up to 3% of salary or hourly rate, Write On staff are also eligible to receive a bonus of up to 3% of their salary/hourly rate based on the company’s performance. If at least three of the four quarters’ incentive metrics are met (including all of the revenue metrics), a company-wide bonus is triggered for all employees. This is typically paid out in November.
Recruitment
Diversity of applicant pool. The fundraising profession is 90% white and 70% female. Write On employs two primary strategies in working to diversify its talent pipeline. The first is advertising open positions in spaces that align with our values and attract more diverse applicants, such as Idealist.org and hiring boards of organizations like Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy. The second is by contributing directly to a more diverse pipeline of talent through our paid grant writing apprenticeship for Black, Indigenous, and people of color: Pathways to Philanthropy.
Removing bias from the hiring process. Nearly all candidates who pass position qualification minimums are asked to enter a screening process for skills evaluation. These evaluations do not ask questions about age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, sexual orientation, religion, or any other information where bias could be present. Evaluations are graded with a key that measures grammar and spelling, percentages, calculations, and other concrete data points, thereby providing an objective review of each candidate’s submission.
Transparency
Open information. All employees can access the pay ranges for various positions within the company by taking a look at the current organizational chart. This is useful not only in ensuring pay equity but also in planning advancement pathways.
Performance evaluations. Annual performance evaluations, which inform annual performance raises, are tied to quarterly work plan progress. Every quarter, employees have an opportunity to meet with their supervisors and discuss general and custom performance metrics, career aspirations, and professional development opportunities.
Annual equity assessment. All staff at Write On participate annually in an equity indicators assessment. This assessment not only sets a baseline for performance, it also provides invaluable insights into areas for continued growth and development. This assessment sets priorities for the Equity Committee’s oversight responsibilities as well as the company’s goals and objectives in maintaining a welcoming and safe work environment.
Equity committee. The equity committee at Write On, a compensated role for employees who are interested in providing oversight into the company’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) efforts, is primarily responsible for administering the annual equity indicators assessment, making recommendations to the company about where we can continue to grow and improve, and overseeing the progress of those areas (policy development and implementation, etc.).
Removal of gender exclusivity. In support of Write On’s commitment to creating safe spaces, all employees are required to list their pronouns on their displayed ZOOM name and in email signatures. Pronouns are also listed in the staff directory on the website, ensuring that we communicate to all potential clients and staff the importance of gender equity at Write On.
Values-based Conflict of Interest. Employees at Write On have the ability to request a unique type of non-medical accommodation through the Values-based Conflict of Interest process. Here, employees can request special accommodations, up to and including client reassignment, if a values-based conflict exists. Write On strives to work with clients who align with one or more of our company values or are willing to work toward alignment (onramps). However, we acknowledge that conflicts may still arise and offer this policy as a way to respect and protect employee wellness.
Client conduct expectations. In addition to publishing the Fundraisers Bill of Rights, Write On includes in our contracts specific conduct expectations for relationships between staff (fundraisers) and clients. This is of critical importance, as many inequitable power dynamics exist and are perpetuated in traditional fundraising settings between people in similar roles. This behavior includes, but is not limited to, verbal or physical abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on race, gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation. Clients found to be in violation of conduct expectations will be subject to immediate termination of Write On services and may also face legal consequences.
Pay equity at Write On is a big deal, and it’s not just about the money. Yes, we believe that people working in the nonprofit space should be competitively compensated. Yes, we believe in being transparent about starting pay, how wages increase over time, and how employees can attain greater wealth. We also believe that pay equity includes being intentional about how we address intersectionality, where we search for talent, what we say and do when hiring, and how we retain the amazing people on our team.
Creating a welcoming and safe space for a diverse fundraising team takes time, intention, and investment. But the results speak for themselves. Opportunity Knocks found in 2021 that 30% of nonprofit employees were already burned out, and another 20% were nearing the burnout threshold. The cost of losing a professional fundraiser (whose average length of employment is just 16 months) is more than 2x their annual salary!
To put that in perspective, a nonprofit paying $75,000 for a director of development and NOT investing in equitable pay practices will, on average, host three different professional fundraisers over a five-year span of time and LOSE $450,000! And that, of course, doesn’t even take into account losses for other key nonprofit positions.
Long gone are the days when playing “the woman card” was enough to scare people away from the table. At Write On, we’re showing our whole hand. Nonprofit work isn’t just valuable - it’s invaluable. And you can take that to the bank.