Compensation, Payroll and Benefits for NGOs and Social Enterprises
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
What this looks like in ngos and social enterprises
The parts of compensation, payroll and benefits that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Pay Against Donor Budgets
Where the salary line is agreed with a funder.
What this coversHide
Pay Against Donor Budgets
Where the salary line is agreed with a funder.
What this coversHideSector pay is constrained by grant budgets that were often set before the role was scoped, and split funding means one person's cost may be attributed across several projects.
- Salary structure defined independently of any single grant
- Cost allocation across projects and funding sources, including splits
- Donor salary caps and norms accounted for in structure design
- Core versus project-funded roles distinguished clearly
- Benefits designed within funding constraints
- Pay equity across projects maintained deliberately
- Increment policy stated despite funding uncertainty
- Payroll records supporting donor audit requirements
Pay equity across projects is the issue that most damages sector organisations internally - two people doing the same work on different grants at different rates, with no stated reason.
The general method — what compensation, payroll and benefits covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the compensation and rewards strategy page. What is above is the part that differs for ngos and social enterprises.
Other HR topics for ngos and social enterprises
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.
See all HR topics for ngos and social enterprises, or another industry.