UK Civil Society Almanac 2023

• This is the first year that NCVO has featured a section on charity vacancies and salary levels.
• This has been produced in partnership with CharityJob, the UK’s leading specialised job board for non-profit, NGO, social enterprise, CIC and voluntary roles.
• We will continue to build on this data partnership in future to produce relevant insights for the charity sector. This additional knowledge is particularly valuable in the context of the cost of living crisis.

• CharityJob salary data for 2022 reflects a tough recruitment market. The number of all charity sector jobs1 posted on the CharityJob website increased by 35% from 2019 to 2022. At the same time, demand from candidates, measured by the average number of clicks on a job ad’s ‘apply’ button, decreased by 13% from 2019.
• However, some changes have started to emerge in 2023 as the market appears to be stabilising.
• Based on all 61,900 jobs posted on the website, although the total number of jobs posted increased by 35%, the average salary for a role decreased by 3% from 2019. This may reflect an increase in the number of lower-paying roles from 2019 to 2022.
• There have been significant changes in working arrangements as an after-effect of the pandemic, with 53% of all roles posted in 2022 being on-site, 35% being hybrid, and 12% being remote. In 2019, 96% of roles posted were on-site.

Compared with 2019, while the total number of all jobs posted on the CharityJob website in 2022 increased by 35%, the average salary decreased by 3%

• The details of average salaries in the general charity sector, both overall and by size, workplace and experience, are based on the subset of 29,100 jobs posted on the CharityJob website that meet the NCVO’s definition of general charities.
• The average salary for general charities has increased by 5% from 2019. This differs from the average for all jobs in the broader market, where average salaries decreased by 3%.
• The number of jobs posted by recruiters at general charities has increased substantially, by 60%; this is greater than across the broader market trend (increase of 35%), with charities picking up recruitment efforts following the covid-19 pandemic.

Compared with 2019, the total number of general charity jobs posted in 2022 increased by 60%, and the average salary increased by 5% 

• Most jobs posted at general charities in 2022 were at large and major charities, which accounted for 35% and 34% of jobs respectively. The fewest jobs were available at micro and small charities, which made up 2% of jobs posted.

The majority of jobs posted were in large or major organisations

• In both 2019 and 2022, medium charities paid the least on average (£29,700 in 2022), while super-major charities paid the most (£36,600).
• Interestingly, micro and small charities paid more on average than medium charities. A possible reason is that at smaller charities, employees are often expected to take on more responsibility, covering duties that wouldn’t usually be a part of their role. Smaller charities therefore pay more than medium charities would for a similar role.
• Average salaries across most organisation sizes have increased from 2019 to 2022, but average salaries in micro and small charities have decreased by 3%. Major charities saw the smallest increase at 1%, and super-major charities the largest increase at 12%.

Medium charities on average pay the least, even when compared to micro and small charities

• The number of jobs available across workplaces has changed drastically. In 2019 on-site roles made up 95% of jobs posted at general charities, with hybrid and remote roles accounting for 3% each. 2022 saw a dramatic shift, with 49% of jobs being on-site and hybrid and remote roles making up 40% and 11% respectively.

The pandemic has changed the way charities work, with a significant increase in remote and hybrid opportunities

• In line with overall trends, the average salaries for both hybrid and remote roles have seen large increases (each by 17%) while average salaries for on-site roles have decreased by 2%.
• This is due to both an increase in the number of jobs available and an increase in the average salary across all workplaces. A large proportion of roles that were previously on-site have now changed to be hybrid working roles, and since on-site roles generally paid the most in the past, this has meant that the average salary for hybrid roles has increased.

Following the shift, hybrid and remote roles are now better paid than on-site roles

• Super-major charities pay the most across all workplace types, but micro and small charities pay more for on-site roles than medium, large and major charities do. Medium charities pay the least for both on-site and remote roles.
• On-site roles at major charities were the largest single category of jobs available, at 5,550 opportunities; followed by hybrid and on-site roles at large charities, with each having 4,600 jobs available.

Super-major charities pay the most across all workplace types, but micro and small charities pay more for on-site roles compared with medium organisations

• As expected, average salaries increase as the experience level requirement increases, from £23,000 at entry level to £59,600 for Directors.
• Average salaries for junior roles have seen the highest increase from 2019 to 2022 at 7%, followed by experienced (non-manager) roles at 6%. These levels have also seen the highest increases in the number of roles available, with the number of junior roles posted increasing by 77% and experienced (non-manager) roles increasing by 75%.
• The number of director level roles has doubled from 2019 to 2022. While the average salary for senior executive roles has decreased by 3% from 2019, the number of jobs available at this level has increased by 50%.

Average salaries increased from 2019 to 2022 across all experience levels, except for senior executive roles, which decreased

• For entry-level and junior roles, there were no significant differences between average salaries across the organisation sizes in 2022.
• However, for the higher experience levels (experienced non-manager and above) there was a notable difference across organisation sizes, with higher salaries offered by the larger charities at each level of experience.

While salaries are similar by size of organisation for entry-level and junior roles, higher salaries are offered by larger charities at each of the higher levels of experience

• To find out more about wider salary trends, and average salaries across all charity job categories, read the CharityJob Salary Report 2023.
• Please note that the salaries in this report are based on last year’s data. Check out the CharityJob salary checker tool for the most up-to-date information.