Pay gap closing as women’s wages rise at nonprofits
A decade ago, the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management launched a research project to track disturbing trends in pay, leadership opportunities and other issues for women who work in the Pittsburgh region’s nonprofit sector.
The initiative was dubbed the 74 Percent Project because at the time, women comprised 74% of all nonprofit workers but earned just 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues.
Since then, the pay gap has typically narrowed by a few cents every twoyears — that is, until last year.
New data shows the average pay for top female executives at nonprofits soared to 92 cents on the dollar compared to that of their male counterparts in 2020, up from 82 cents in 2019.
“It was quite surprising,” said Peggy Morrison Outon, assistant vice president for community engagement and leadership development at Robert Morris University and founding director of the Bayer Center, which is housed at RMU.
“It’s gone up before, but very modestly, and then there’s this pop,” she added. “I keep saying I want to blow a horn and put a neon sign on it.”
The dramatic jump is likely a combinationof women filling more top executive and better-paid jobs at nonprofits; heightened awareness about inequities generated by the #MeToo movement; and younger board members pushing for gender and racial parity at nonprofits, industry leaders said.
“I wish I had a really tight, ‘This is why it happened,’ ” said Ms. Outon.
“I think there’s been an appreciable increase in women’s power. There aremore women in leadership.”
At the largest nonprofits — those with budgets over $10 million — 63% of chief executives are women, up from 40% a decade ago.
“The single greatest determinant of executive pay is the budget size of the organization you work for,” Ms. Outon said.
Bryan Perry, executive director of
Homestead-based nonprofit Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy (formerly the Allegheny Trail Alliance), called the latest data, “Remarkable and a positive change in theright direction for sure.”
Mr. Perry, whose organization participated in the Bayer Center survey, said nonprofit boards of directors are driving some of the change because their members “are younger, more representative across race and gender, and have really focused additional attention on equity fairness.”
“That’s long overdue,” he added. Local philanthropies are also naming some younger leaders whose presence could be generating more discussions about equity and diversity at the nonprofits they fund, Mr. Perry said.
“Both Gen Xers and millennials are starting to take leadership roles with foundations and foundation boards,” he said. “They are better at recognizing and asking before they makegrants if the nonprofit in question has based salary on best practices. I don’t think those questions wereasked 20 years ago.”
Despite gains for women, Black top executives at nonprofits lagged behind their white counterparts in salary.
The survey showed the average salary for a Black chief executive or executive director, male or female, was$107,087 compared with $124,824 fora white person in that job.
At the largest nonprofits — those with budgets over $10 million — 63% of chief executives are women, up from 40% a decade ago.
Change over the years
When the Bayer Center launched its biennial survey in 2002, women at nonprofits were earning 67 cents on the dollar
compared with men.
Across all industry sectors nationwide, women earn 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, according to a September report from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a Washington, D. C., organization that promotes workplace equality.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, also based in Washington, said in a March policy brief that the gender wage gap in weekly earnings for full- time workers in the U. S. stood at 18.7% in 2020, meaning women earned 82.3% of men’s pay.
That compared with a gap of 19.5% in 2019, or a gender earnings ratio of 81.5%, the institute said.
The latest Bayer Center report polled 185 nonprofits in 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties about wages and benefits, including medical insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, flexible schedules, remote work policies and professional development opportunities.
The data was complied by Nonprofit Compensation Associates of Oakland, Calif.
Organizations surveyed — whose work spans arts and culture, environmental work, economic development, education, child care, libraries, religion and charitable foundations — represent roughly 11,000 employees, with 85% of them based in Allegheny County.
Those surveyed had annual budgets ranging from under $ 50,000 to more than $ 100 million a year with a median budget of $ 1.2 million.
Women comprised 77% of all employees at the organizations.
“It’s still a very female- centric industry,” Ms. Outon said.
She’s hopeful the spike in women’s wages isn’t temporary.
Plans for raises
The survey found 67% of all nonprofits plan to give their staffs raises in the current fiscal year with a median expected raise of 2%.
Close to half, or 48%, said the COVID- 19 pandemic impacted planned salary increases, but the survey didn’t specify which jobs in each organization were impacted.
“Based on what we can see, people were able to hold on to their staffs and give very modest increases of 2% to 3%,” Ms. Outon said. “If that is true, I don’t think we have to be pessimistic that the wage increase will be maintained and supported.”
Christine Haas, executive director at The Midwife Center for Birth & Women’s Health in the Strip District, a survey participant, said the Bayer Center survey and other data about the gender pay gap “helps to raise awareness about the need to have pay equity.”
“Hopefully, people are being more deliberate and paying people for the experience and what they bring to the job,” Ms. Haas said.
Asked about the overall impact of the pandemic, only 1% of organizations said they were not affected.
Almost half, or 47%, said the impact was significant; 28% said they experienced a moderate effect; and 16% said the fallout was severe.
A total of 17% furloughed workers, 14% laid workers off, 9% reduced workers’ pay and 43% operated under salary freezes for some portion of the year.
The Midwife Center, which employs 35 people, had no layoffs or salary freezes and was able to give employees raises for the 2020- 21 fiscal year, Ms. Haas said.
“Our staff stayed with us through this whole pandemic,” she said. “They not only provided care but helped us with problem solving. Everyone contributed, and we value that.”