United Philanthropy Forum’s 2019 Compensation & Benefits for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations report provides comprehensive benchmarking data and analyses on regional and national PSOs’ employment practices, based on the responses of 58 PSOs.
Highlights
2019 Compensation & Benefits for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations
United Philanthropy Forum’s 2019 Compensation & Benefits for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations report provides comprehensive benchmarking data and analyses on regional and national PSOs’ employment practices, based on the responses of 58 PSOs. Key findings include:
PSO Staff Diversity
-
PSOs Have Grown More Diverse in the Past Two Years. Forty-five percent of PSO staff are people of color, up from 40 percent in 2018 and 34 percent in 2017. PSO staffs are more diverse than the field they serve (26 percent of foundation staffs are people of color) and the country overall (40 percent of the U.S. population is people of color). Among CEOs, 25 percent of CEOs at regional PSOs and 40 percent of CEOs at national PSOs are people of color—well above the 10 percent shares reported for the CEOs of both U.S. foundations and U.S. nonprofits. Nonetheless, there is a need for greater diversity at the CEO level.
PSO Staff Retention & Recruitment
- PSOs Are Continuing to Grow. In the past 12 months, 31 PSOs reported creating a total of 105 new staff positions—or one-quarter of all staff positions reported. Moreover, two-fifths of PSOs (42 percent) plan to add at least one staff position in their next fiscal year, which matches the share reported in the 2018 survey.
- Many PSO Staff Are Relatively New to Their Roles. Over half (54 percent) of permanent PSO staff members have been in their positions for two years or less. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of staff have been in their roles for less than one year.
- More PSOs View Staff Turnover As Accelerating. Compared to two years ago, more than one-quarter of PSOs (27 percent) perceive the turnover rate as being higher. In contrast, just 4 percent of PSOs responding to the 2018 survey perceived the turnover rate as being higher. Moreover, PSOs reporting staff turnover indicated a median of two staff transitions, compared to a median of one transition for the 2018 survey.
PSO Board Diversity
- PSO Boards Are Growing More Diverse. Forty-one percent of PSO board members identify as people of color—up from the 33 percent share reported for both the 2018 and 2017 surveys. PSO boards are much more racially and ethnically diverse than nonprofit boards overall. According to the most recent BoardSource survey, just 16 percent of nonprofit board members across the country identify as people of color.
Customized Benchmarking Reports
Our members who do not find the specific information they need in this report can request customized benchmarking reports based on information included in the survey. Please contact Traci Slater-Rigaud (202-457-8784).
Learn More
Forum Blog
Forum President & CEO David Biemesderfer shares reflections on some key findings from the report in his latest blog Achieving Diversity & Equity: Are Actions Catching Up With Intentions?
Download the Report
- Download the Highlights One-Pager (PDF)
- Download the Executive Summary (PDF)
- Download the Full Report (Forum Members Only)