2023 Compensation & Roles for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations

PSO Staff Diversity

• PSOs Are More Diverse than the Field They Serve. According to the 2023 Forum survey, a majority (52 percent) of permanent PSO staff positions are being held by people of color. For the chief executives of PSOs, 46 percent are people of color.
• PSOs Are Predominately Cisgender Women. Among all regional and national PSOs, more than two-thirds of staff positions (68 percent) are held by cisgender women.

PSO Staff Retention & Recruitment

• A large majority of PSOs Anticipate Staff Growth in 2023. Seven out of ten PSOs (70 percent) anticipate adding staff positions this year, surpassing the shares reported by PSOs going back to 2017. 

PSO Staff Working Location

• A Majority of PSO Staff Work Remotely. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of PSO staff worked onsite exclusively. In the latest survey, the share of PSO staff working exclusively onsite declined to just 2 percent. Conversely, the share of PSO staff working exclusively from a remote location jumped from 19 percent in 2020 to 55 percent of PSO staff in 2023. As PSOs have established a “new normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic, regional PSOs have largely adopted a hybrid approach, while national PSO staff are primarily working remotely.

Customized Benchmarking Reports

Our members who do not find the specific information they need in this report can request customized benchmarking reports based on information included in the survey. Please contact Ivana Bikombe at (202) 869-4327.

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