What to consider
as a Director…
WHO WANTS TO DEVELOP OR CHANGE COMPENSATION POLICIES
Low compensation and wages are, with little exception, the number one issue that organizers cite as contributing to low morale and burnout. However, within that context, we have found a broader picture to all the components of compensation aside from the specific numbers on a paycheck.
We think of this bigger picture as a “compensation philosophy.” For example, an organization that has transparent pay bands should also ensure that employees are clear on what metrics would determine being on the lower end or higher end of a particular pay band. Performance, seniority, years of experience, or specific skills might all be determining factors that need to be communicated to the team. A compensation philosophy might also include policies for raises and salary adjustments, COLAs, bonuses, or additional stipends.
In a city as increasingly expensive as New York, it can be challenging to develop compensation standards that meet the needs of staff and also reflect organizational values. Having baseline compensation standards alongside a plan for what to aspire to can help organizations develop realistic fundraising goals, predict reasonable levels of growth, and encourage transparency with staff regarding pay.
This page includes recommendations and ideas for directors to consider as they build necessary compensation practices to invest in organizers and create more sustainable organizing jobs.
Questions to ask when building your compensation standards:
- How will you ensure your compensation guidelines are understood by all members of staff, including new organizers or employees?
- What is the scale or ratio between highest and lowest salaries and positions?
- Are these compensation policies indirectly discriminating against anyone with special circumstances (i.e. caretaking or parenting, medical needs, or differently abled individuals)?
- How does your compensation plan support any anticipated growth for your staff size or organization in general?
- How would you describe the role that fairness and equity play in guiding the development and implementation of your organization’s compensation strategy, including salary structures, raises, and benefits?
- Is there a difference in compensation for roles in certain departments within the organization (i.e. organizing vs. finance)? If so, why?
Salaries
Sustaining Practices
- All organizers are paid at or above the cost of living specific to the county they are organizing in.
- Organizers who take on additional responsibilities when their colleagues are on leave or when the organization is short-staffed are compensated for the extra work.
- Established salary ranges with a comprehensive breakdown of benefits are included in every job listing and revisited at least once a year.
- Compensation policies and standards are clear and made available to everyone on staff.
- Cost of living increases are provided to organizers at least once a year.
- Opportunities for salary negotiations are made available to organizers at least once a year.
Aspirational Practices
- Bonuses and monetary incentives are given periodically to reward organizing benchmarks, either as positive reinforcement and/or acknowledgement of labor.
- Compensation for new hires is reviewed and approved before any new staff are hired.
- Organizing teams have access to participatory budgeting opportunities and are able to participate in conversations with organizational leadership related to salary considerations and amounts.
Benefits
Sustaining Practices
- All organizers have 100% paid medical,
vision and dental benefits provided by the
organization. - All organizers are provided with a retirement plan with no or minimal (90 days or less)
introductory/waiting period. - All organizers have access to adequate paid time off including sick days, bereavement,
vacation, flex days, and partially or fully paid family and medical leave.
Aspirational Practices
- At least 50% of health insurance coverage is offered to spouses, domestic partners, and dependents.
- Organizations match a certain amount of an organizer’s contribution to a retirement fund.
- Organizers have access to paid sabbatical time after a certain number of years on staff.
- Benefits are offered to part-time or temporary
paid staff members. - Other types of paid leave are built into
organizational policy (child or elder care, menstrual leave, activism or voting time off, self-care days, etc.)
Wellness Resources vs. Wages/Benefits
While not typically included in traditional benefits packages, our research has found wellness benefits significantly impact the job satisfaction and retention of organizers. Some examples of wellness benefits include:
Restoration time
- Days or weeks off included in organizational calendars for the entire team
- PTO and/or comp time after campaigns or other periods of high-volume work
- Ability to work from home when not required to be physically in office
Financial wellness
- Support with student loans
- Retirement
- Tuition reimbursement
- Financial literacy coaching
Home office materials
- Cell phone and internet reimbursement
- Stipends for equipment and home office supplies
- Contributions to co-working spaces (if a physical office is not available)
Physical fitness and nutrition
- Gym memberships
- Access to apps such as ClassPass
- Virtual gym memberships (such as Peloton or the YMCA)
- Bike to work incentives
- Meals provided at required events
- Food delivery gift cards to use when working during evening meal times
Access to mental and emotional health resources
- Stipends or group rates for online therapy, such as Talkspace
- Group counseling
- Membership to mindfulness apps such as Calm or Headspace
- Recommendations and reimbursement for therapists
Wellness stipends for employees to use at their discretion
- In tandem with campaigns or given as bonuses
Many of these offerings will come at additional cost to your organization, and therefore it is important to consider these benefits in tandem with base pay rate or as funding becomes available.
Factors to consider when determining organizer salary ranges:
- Organizing credentials and familiarity with membership base
- Years of experience and/or number of campaigns organized
- Formal experience (jobs held) vs. informal experience (volunteer, membership, or community involvement)
- Education related to organizing and advocacy, such as data bootcamps,
- degrees, or certificates in nonprofit management, policy, etc.
- Special skills (additional languages spoken, data analysis, budget
- management, etc.)
- Management experience and management requirements of the position
Resources to check out:
Salary Policy Discussion Guide
(RoadMap Consulting)
Making Compensation More Equitable
(The Management Center)
Brave Questions: Recalculating Pay Equity
Mala Nagarajan and Richael Faithful (Network Weaver)
Compensation Equity
(Vega Mala Consulting)
WHO IS TRYING TO RAISE FUNDING FOR PERSONNEL NEEDS
We believe funders play a key role in improving working conditions for community organizers. As the main keepers of the resources that support organizing work, funders need to be more aware of the real costs of the work and the tough choices that directors are forced to make when allocating resources.
How to talk to program officers about the cost of doing the work:
The trend toward trust-based philanthropy is encouraging, pushing more funders to consider general operating support grants without strict constraints on project-specific support. But, we have found in our donor organizing work that many program officers are not sure how to engage in conversations about staff wages, HR policies, and other internal organizational dynamics without worrying that they’re intruding on a director’s autonomous decision-making.
And yet, the directors we’ve spoken with say they’re unsure if their funders support directing resources toward personnel needs. Some directors even worry their funders still follow a former philanthropic norm that stipulates no more than 30% of resources should be allocated to overhead. These dynamics would be alleviated with more transparent conversation about staffing needs and, ideally, reassurance from funders that resources can—and should—go towards investing in organizing teams.
“One of the hardest parts of this job is prioritizing programming, which makes our org what it is, and staffing, which makes our programming happen. It’s a constant see-saw to keep our doors open and I wish there was a way I didn’t have to constantly make that choice.”
— Executive Director
Some effective tactics we have seen:
- Communicate the full costs of doing the work. While the cost of living, health insurance rates, and general inflation have all increased, grant amounts have mostly stayed the same. We strongly encourage directors to be as clear as possible about what their organizations need to to both support their teams and further programmatic impact. Resource to check out: Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Full Cost Project
- Share more with funders about the current state of staff turnover and morale, as well as your goals about how you would like to support your team. Many funders won’t know to ask about these needs, but through our interviews and conversations, we have found many funders would like to be helpful to directors looking to address these concerns. Even when funders may not be able to increase their grant size, they might be able to help organize funder colleagues. Additional tools for funders can be found in All Due Respect’s “Sustainable Jobs for Organizers” toolkit.
- Many directors and organizations feel confined by the metrics to demonstrate as much programmatic impact as possible to ensure continued funding support—a very real pressure and challenging dynamic in our movement. And yet, it’s the team members and organizers who make that programmatic work possible. Communicating with funders about the need to support staff in order to continue programmatic impact might help to make the case that funds for overhead and personnel are not distinct from (and are in fact the driver of) the ability to demonstrate impact and win campaigns.
Unrestricted funding for overhead expenses is one way funding partners can support the capacity needed to help an organization grow alongside their organizing teams. Having dedicated staff to create and maintain practices around cost of living increases, onboarding, hiring, payroll, and proactive work concerning salaries and benefits can ease the stress on the other staff members who often take on this work outside of their job descriptions.
So much of what makes an organizing program successful is the ability to build on campaigns and work that continues over multiple cycles. Relationships with community members are built over time and aren’t something that can be manufactured easily. The importance of retaining organizers who are experts in their organizing work and in their communities is something directors should emphasize to funders as an investment that requires proper staff and maintained systems.