The new CharityJob Salary Report 2023 analyses average salaries by job type, experience level and charity size.

As you can imagine, trends in recruitment and the job market have been hard to measure over the past few years due to the impacts of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Only last year did things start to return to something that looked similar to life in 2019.

People don’t choose to work in the charity sector for the money, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still very important. And with the cost of living soaring, salary has become more critical than ever for many. Whilst a charity salary is likely to be lower than a salary in the private sector, it should still be fair.

CharityJob analysed data from more than 60,000 paid job posted on their site last year and compared it to data from 2019 to bring you an up-to-date overview of how things are looking now.

Here are a few key insights from the CharityJob Salary Report 2023

1. Last year, the number of jobs increased whilst demand for jobs decreased

In 2022 the UK experienced a candidate-driven market, where there were more job vacancies than candidates available to fill them.

CharityJob's data reflects this tough market. There were 61,900 paid jobs posted on the website in 2022, an increase of 35% from 2019. However, demand for jobs decreased, with 13% fewer clicks on the ‘apply’ button for jobs.

2. Average charity salaries are failing to keep up with inflation

The average salary for a role posted on CharityJob in 2022 was £34,800. Average salaries haven’t changed much since 2019, with an overall decrease of 3% but modest increases across most job categories. Support work jobs have increased the most with a 13% growth in average salaries from 2019. Charities need to increase salaries in 2023 to better align with the high rate of inflation.

3. Finance roles pay the most, and admin roles pay the least

Looking across job categories, finance roles in the charity sector have the highest average salary of £49,300, while admin roles have the lowest average salary of £26,200.

4. Jobs in highest demand

Despite decreases in demand across all job categories, evidenced by lower numbers of clicks on the ‘apply’ button, some job types were more popular than others.

Jobs in the ‘policy/research, advocacy, governance & campaigns’, ‘admin’ and ‘marketing, PR & digital’ categories were most in demand, with the highest numbers of clicks on the ‘apply’ button.

5. Working arrangements have dramatically changed since 2019

There have been significant changes in working arrangements as a result of the pandemic. In 2022, 53% of roles posted were on-site roles, 35% were hybrid and 12% remote. This is compared to 2019, where 96% of roles posted were on-site.

6. Remote and hybrid working are in high demand from candidates

Remote roles posted on the website in 2022 were in very high demand. These roles got six times the number of clicks on the ‘apply’ button than on-site jobs.

Hybrid roles were also in high demand, and were twice as popular as on-site jobs.