When we put money in a box for a good cause, how much goes on CEO pay? Probably less than 1%



In a recent Daily Mail article, Conservative MP David Davies was quoting as saying:

"It is extraordinary that charitable organisations and charity bosses are giving themselves bigger pay rises than some people receive in their annual salary.

'When we put money in a box for a good cause, it is without realising how much of the money is being used to fund the enormous, eye-watering pay rises for bosses of these organisations.'
"

If David Davies doesn't realise how much is going on pay rises for CEOs, let's help with that.
  • In a review we did several years ago, we found that for the largest 10 charities in the UK, CEO pay was 0.05% of the total income
  • The largest charities receive a very large proportion of the income going to the charity sector, so there's a good chance that the amount of total income spent on CEO pay is very low.
  • Where the percentage spent on CEO pay is high, it's likely to be in a smaller charity, so the CEO is likely to be earning less than the £60,000 threshold
So overall, we would suggest that donors focus on the amount of impact that the charity achieves, and not get distracted by commentary on CEO pay.



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