The number of charity director roles being advertised has doubled over the last three years ago, research has found.

The NCVO’s 2023 Civil Society Almanac also found that over this period the average salaries of charity directors has increased from £58,400 to £59,600.

Large charities paid their directors £63,100 on average last year, while directors in medium sized charities receive £11,400 less on average.

Charities are also hiring more senior executives. The number of jobs available at this level has increased by 50% over the last three years.

However, senior executive pay has dipped over this period from £59,600 a year to £58,400. This is the only job level within charities to see a fall in average salary over this period.

Entry level posts have seen their average salary increase from £23,000 to £23,800, while managers’ average pay has increased from £39,800 to £40,700.

This is the first year NCVO has included data on vacancies and salary levels in its annual Civil Society Almanac, with its research this year carried out in partnership with online recruiter CharityJob.

The research found that 2022 “saw a UK-wide candidate-driven job market” that has been typified by fewer candidates amid a decrease in demand for jobs in the sector “making it harder for charities to recruit”.

This also found that medium sized charities pay the least on average at all experience levels, even when compared to micro and small charities.

The research also notes that the Covid pandemic “has changed with way charities work” with an increase in remote and hybrid opportunities and fewer on-site roles.

More than a third of charity workers are at least partially based remotely, including 28% working from home and 10% working at different places with home as a base.

Diversity problems remain

The charity sector continues to be blighted by a lack of diversity across its workforce, the research also found.

The sector continues to be “less ethnically diverse than the private and public sectors”, with 90% of staff identifying as white. This compares to 86% in the public sector and 87% among businesses.

The NCVO points out that the low proportion of global majority charity workers has not changed in eight years.

Charities are also disproportionately staffed by women and its workforce has an older age profile than the private sector.

More than a third (67%) of charity workers are women. The proportion of male staff has remained stable at 33% after a dip five years ago.

Share Story: