Why not have us produce a high-quality compensation and benefits survey for your local nonprofit community?

As if we nonprofits needed yet another reason to be sure we are offering current and prospective employees an attractive compensation and benefits package, we now have yet another.  According to recent studies and “word on the street,” nonprofits are currently having an increasingly difficult time attracting high-quality job candidates.  And with the Baby Boomer effect just around the corner, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

FAIRPAY is a service of Bob Orser and Rita Haronian, in partnership with the Center for Nonprofit Management (CNM), for the production of salary and benefits surveys in the nonprofit sector.  Bob and Rita are capitalizing on their 50 years’ plus experience in producing salary and benefits surveys with accurate and detailed data, beginning with The Management Center's Northern California Survey, first produced in 1978.  We can now work with local sponsoring organizations to produce a survey for your local community or constituency.

Our first survey in 2002 was of 193 agencies in southwestern Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area) sponsored by the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management with major funding from the United Way of Allegheny County, and repeated in 2004 and 2006.  We have also produced surveys using FAIRPAY for the nonprofit communities of Philadelphia, PA, Orlando, FL., Southern California and Northern California.

We strongly believe that a very high percentage of jobs that most nonprofits fill should be comparable to others in their own economic region.  All of their benefits should be comparable as well.  Following that logic, national or regional (“the eastern seaboard”, the “southwest”, etc.) surveys are almost worthless.

How does a FAIRPAY survey help organizations in my community?

A FAIRPAY salary and benefits survey helps organizations in your community:

• Set fair salaries and benefits to attract and retain the best employees
• Evaluate industry standards for compensation for a range of positions
• Budget and plan for the cost of adding new staff members
• Analyze their own jobs and compensation
• Stand up to the scrutiny of an increasingly skeptical public and avoid problems with the IRS
• Compare their salaries and benefits with others in their community, not with organizations totally out of their local economic market.

How can FAIRPAY help my organization?

FAIRPAY enables your organization to:

• Increase your visibility in your community
• Collect data to inform funders, policy makers and other stakeholders
• Generate a new source of revenue.

What does a FAIRPAY survey analyze?

Over one hundred fifty positions are reported for the entire sample, with more details by:

• Organization's annual operating budget size (up to 7 categories)
• Organization's location (up to 6 categories)
• Organization's field of service (up to 15 categories)
• Number of employees in the organization (up to 9 categories)
• Number of employees managed by person in position (up to 4 categories).

Specific data regarding incentive pay is also reported for each position, including eligibility for incentive pay and actual incentive pay given.

All category descriptions are customized to suit the community or association being surveyed. Additional categories can be added as an option.

Benefits and other policies are reported as well:

• Paid time off (vacation, sick time, holidays, other)
• Insurance benefits
• Retirement benefits
• Policies regarding compensation and employment practices
• Executive Director/CEO perquisites.

How do we work with you?

Once you sign up with us, we will:

• provide you with a project timeline. Click here to see a sample timeline.
• advise you on how to finance the survey, including sharing a case for support you can customize to approach local funders. Click on our sample case for support here.
• help you to develop a pricing plan for subscribers and non subscribers. We will also share our own survey income/expense experience with you. Click here.

Regarding the actual production and distribution of the survey:

You simply enroll the participants. We can provide you with our own surveys' brochures (fax) copy and email text. We can also share our co-sponsorship structure and agreement letters with you.

We will:

• Handle all matters relating to computer operations and the writing of the text of the report
• Provide you with an electronic copy of a survey questionnaire customized for your community
• Respond to any questions that arise as participants are completing the questionnaires
• Collect the completed questionnaires from the participating agencies, who forward them electronically directly to us through our new website
• Send you a camera-ready copy of the survey report (estimated 200 pages) and/or computer file not more than eight weeks after our receipt of the last questionnaire
• Provide advice on how to market the survey, both to participants before publication and to the general nonprofit community after publication
• Help you to design a workshop on how to use the survey report so that your local nonprofit organizations get the most possible benefit from the information.

How much will it cost for you to produce a FAIRPAY survey for us?

The cost for producing the survey depends upon the number of participants, as follows:

• $8,500 for up to 100 participating organizations
• $11,000 for up to 200 participating organizations
• $13,500 for up to 300 participating organizations

The cost for additional participating organizations would be $25 each.

These prices are paid in three installments.

Once these fees have been paid, your organization then owns the survey.

How can my organization finance a FAIRPAY survey?

Your income from a FAIRPAY survey could come from one or more of the following sources:

• Full or partial sponsorship by a foundation, corporation or service provider in your community. Both of CNM's surveys are partially sponsored by accounting firms.  The Greater Delaware Valley and central Florida surveys were subsidized by local foundations and the Southwestern Pennsylvania survey is funded in part by the United Way of Allegheny County
• Fees from subscribing organizations
• Sales of the survey to non-subscribers.

What is the first step?

Simply contact Bob Orser at 1-707-226-3034 or bob@nonprofitdoctor.com. He would be glad to send you a sample copy of one of our surveys for your review.

If you would prefer to do the Survey yourself

Even though the FAIRPAY software is user friendly, the computer operations and number crunching part of producing a survey is labor intensive and can require several months of work by a dedicated staff person. Our services make it possible for an organization to sponsor a survey with very little demand for staff time or technical resources. If you would prefer to do the survey yourself, we have a one-time leasing option available. Bob can explain that to you, too.

About FAIRPAY's developers

FAIRPAY is a service of Bob Orser, The Nonprofit Doctor, and Rita Haronian, in partnership with the Center for Nonprofit Management. The FAIRPAY program is based on a nonprofit survey model developed by CNM. The FAIRPAY survey tool was developed by CNM staff jointly with Bob Orser and Rita Haronian, both formerly of The Management Center in San Francisco. CNM has conducted nonprofit compensation surveys since 1990. Since 2005, the FAIRPAY software and methodology has been used to produce CNM's Northern and Southern California Compensation & Benefits Surveys.

Using the FAIRPAY software, Rita produced the 167-page 2005 Greater Delaware Valley Wage and Benefits Survey, published by the Nonprofit Center at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The report features salary and benefits data from 189 nonprofits reporting on over 9,000 paid positions across the Delaware Valley (greater Philadelphia area).

Rita has served as Project Manager for the annual Compensation and Benefits Survey of Northern California Nonprofit Organizations since 2001.  The 2007 edition reported data from 366 nonprofits, with over 18,946 individual salaries.  In 2007, she took over the production of both the Northern and Southern California Surveys.  She has also designed customized applications for nonprofit surveys in Louisiana, Seattle, Houston, Kansas City, Oregon and North Carolina.

Rita and Bob have produced three surveys (in 2002, 2004 and 2006) for the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA.  This regional survey of 200 organizations in Southwestern Pennsylvania, reflects that diverse nonprofit community in terms of size, scope and field of service.

Rita and Bob produced the central Florida survey for the Philanthropic and Leadership Center at Rollins College in 2007 and currently are conducting a survey of foundation and corporate giving programs for Southern California Grantmakers in Los Angeles.

Here's what FAIRPAY clients say

"The wage and benefit survey that the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University has conducted three times over the last six years through the excellent work of Rita Haronian and Bob Orser is one of the most practical tools for improving human resource management available to boards and staffs in southwestern Pennsylvania. Done in partnership with the United Way of Allegheny County, our entire study (more than 200 pages of information!) has been downloaded by more than 20,000 users. Our customers report that they have used the study to make fair their salary administration plans, work with their boards to prepare for executive transitions and get the raises they deserve. I could not recommend the study and the consultants that conduct it more highly! This type of study would benefit every region as nonprofits seek to treat their employees with dignity and respect."

--Peggy Outon, Executive Director, Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management, Pittsburgh, PA.

"The Rollins College Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership completed our regional compensation and benefits survey using FAIRPAY in June, 2007. We and our participating agencies received excellent customer service throughout the process. We were able to customize the survey instrument and the final report to meet our specific needs. We hope to use FAIRPAY every time we repeat the survey. I strongly recommend its use for every community's compensation and benefits survey needs."

--Margaret Linnane, Executive Director, Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL

"One of our most popular products is the annual compensation and benefits surveys we produce for Northern California and Southern and Central California nonprofit organizations. Rita and Bob make it easy to survey participating organizations and quickly convert the data into a truly user friendly and practical tool."

--Regina Birdsell, Executive Director, Center for nonprofit Management in Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

For more information about FAIRPAY, contact Bob Orser, The Nonprofit Doctor, at:  707-226-3034 or Bob@nonprofitdoctor.com.