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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel outraged at my friends re charity salaries?

879 replies

Pissedoffandbored · 03/07/2019 20:54

Have a group chat going with a load of my girlfriends. There have been some additions to the group chat this week, some I know well and others are just acquaintances. One girl I don’t know sent a link to published salaries for charities. Girl didn’t know I work for a National Charity in a senior position and slated the amount I earn saying people don’t deserve to earn more than PM. At this point I interjected making her aware of my position and she proceeded to have a go at me. I defended my position but most of my friends agreed I earned too much since I worked for a charity.

So AIBU to be pissed off? Also, is this the general consensus or are my mates just dick heads?

OP posts:
tictoc76 · 03/07/2019 23:40

I work for a charity, I earn about half of what I did in the private sector 5 years ago and I never switch off. In charity sector there is not the money to employ all the separate skills I had in the private sector so I do a bit of everything. We run on a skeleton staff and if you can’t attract some talent you end up wasting more money than by paying a few higher salaries.

Everything is relative and whilst many on this group might think I am on a high salary the reality is I won’t be able to afford to stay in charity for too long as I need to earn more than they can afford to pay me. It’s ridiculous to think that just because you work for a charity you should accept a salary at 20% of your earning potential.

ILikeyourHairyHands · 03/07/2019 23:41

Fuck me! The old 'women supporting women bollox', ie the, 'I'm going to do what the fuck I like but will hark back to feminism when it suits'.

I support women in many ways. I've been around feminism since I was in short trousers at Greenham with my mother and her friends. I do not support women by dint of their sex, I support women because, I like them better than men on the whole and because women have been and still are disadvantaged, abused, sold, diminished, commodified, belittled, and fucked over in so many ways.

I don't support women blindly and I cerrainly don't support women who spout a load of shite and then expect my support by the happenstance of us both being in possesion of a vagina.

I support and applaud your advancement and your professional achievements. I don't support your spurious bollockry. It's feminism in action to do both.

Mydogmylife · 03/07/2019 23:42

@BubblesBuddy
Yeh I picked up on the self glorification tone as well, not a good look

Alsohuman · 03/07/2019 23:45

@ILikeyourHairyHands, absobloodylutely.

wheresmymojo · 03/07/2019 23:45

I would really like to see those being snippy about the OP saying £50k would be ludicrous swap jobs with her for a month.

There is no way on this earth that anyone earning £50k could step in to being the CEO of a huge organisation and be successful.

If you think you can you have a massively inflated sense of your own capabilities.

fairfat40 · 03/07/2019 23:46

Haven’t read the whole thread, but just to say I have worked in the third sector and I’m utterly jaded with it. Essentially I believe it is totally self-serving. So for eg, I was involved in a project recently with one of the UK’s largest charities. After it was over they tried to send 3 people over for a completely unnecessary debrief. Totally unnecessary. Such a waste of resources.

Sunbeam18 · 03/07/2019 23:49

I just find it odd that a friend/acquaintance in a group chat wouldn't know that you were a high-flying CEO. I think I'd know if anyone in my extended world was the CEO of a large charity. Odd!

Mydogmylife · 03/07/2019 23:49

@Alsohuman
@ILikeyourHairyHands

👏👏👏👏

stucknoue · 03/07/2019 23:53

I get paid perhaps half of what I would earn for a normal business and I'm always working unpaid overtime, but I do like it!

GruffaIo · 03/07/2019 23:58

Action for Children? Leaving GGUK after undermining it as a single-sex organisation?

Username9641 · 04/07/2019 00:10

Have only read about half thread but just to say the smaller local charities often could take a leaf out of the books of larger charities and run themselves more professionally/with better people (and therefore pay more).

For over 10 years I've worked for large charities and more recently a smaller one, salaries have ranged from 14k-25k (probably average 18-20k).

I was employed on an admin salary for my current PT job 5 years ago, have never had a pay rise but am running the flipping organisation now on the same salary. Perhaps I'm a mug for putting up with that - not sure why I do, trustees don't give much of a toss and I'm so busy that I don't have the time or inclination to fundraise to try and give myself a pay rise - it'd feel "not right" to do so anyway which of course is part of the problem.

I doubt you'd get many people in the private sector running organisations on an admin salary.

CaptSkippy · 04/07/2019 00:11

Throughout this thread I get the feeling that some posters imply that a person who would accept a CEO position for 50K a year instead of a 150K would do a bad job of it.

Have I got this right? Can only CEO's who ask for a 150K hold that level of responsibility? And if so, why?

ILikeyourHairyHands · 04/07/2019 00:12

It comes back to the conversation I've had many times about those who seek power, and charity CEO hits the sweet-spot. It's influential but seen as non-venal which plays into the psychology of those who are ruthless (and let's be honest CEOs and those who claw their way to the top are ruthless, whether they see themselves as saviours or just more efficient than the other useless fuckers, people who head up organisations or governments do believe themselves to be better, that's essentially the criteria for being there).

Essentially, any orginisation, under any political structure is lead by the slightly skewiff people who believe they are the best to lead. The leaders in any top-down structure will be the slightly deranged ones, the ones who aren't happy with life, the ones with a grievance. The ones who have to prove something. What does power mean? I'm always suspicious if those who pursue power. You have to ask why.

StoppinBy · 04/07/2019 00:17

Sorry but if you decide to work in a charity then yes you should be on a basic living wage, you should be in full support of your charity and not there to earn a great wage.

If I know a charity has high paid staff then I do not give to them at all. My family of four live on a wage that is about 1/5 of what you earn if you are on $150,000 and yet you expect us to hand over our cash to further your 'cause' while you earn a fantastic wage?

hungryfortheinvisible · 04/07/2019 00:17

This is a difficult one.

My ideal job would be working for a charity. And in order to attract the right people for the job you have to offer a competitive salary. I have looked at jobs in charities and the salary is marginally less than average for a similar role but I could accept that because of the nature of the company.

But, on the flip side, you're earning over £150k a year and I do instinctively wonder if your salary is worth that much to the charity. Without your post, would the charity be

GleefulGlitch · 04/07/2019 00:20

Nobody expects you to hand over cash Hmm

cannycat20 · 04/07/2019 00:23

Very well said, CaptainSkippy, I think that's one of the most down-to-earth descriptions I've read. It has always made my blood boil when people use the "if you don't pay high rates you won't get good people" argument to justify overly generous salaries, alongside the "if you pay peanuts you get monkeys" rubbish. So some rake it in for pleasant white collar jobs, while others, like paramedics and nurses and teachers, get paid a pittance in comparison for actually being out there on the front line and literally getting their hands dirty. Most of the CEOs and other senior execs I've met who've been most effective and the best leaders have either been the ones prepared to put their money where their mouth is and do a "back to the floor" type thing once in a while OR who have worked their way up from the floor.

When you think about it logically, the whole concept of money is utterly batty anyway; it's just that in our current world there are so many of us we have to have some method of exchange that isn't bartering actual skills or products. It hasn't always been bits of paper and pieces of tin though; in some cultures it was kebab sticks and the Romans used salt for some of the pay for their soldiers (it's where we get the word "salary").

wafflyversatile · 04/07/2019 00:23

Our senior staff are paid less than the sector average never mind the overall average and the stark facts are we struggle to get enough quality candidates for the money.

Teddybear45 · 04/07/2019 00:28

Big charities such as Oxfam need to hire in talent from the private sector to run properly. It’s quite usual for them to pay contracters with international business or bidding / contracts experience £100-200k per year - but remember these people often bring in more money than they are paid. I know several ex-investment bankers who have gone to contract for big charities for 200k plus but then drummed up millions in terms of donations / investment. So it’s not clear cut.

StoppinBy · 04/07/2019 00:29

@gleefulglitch ...... then why do we have so many door knocking charities or struggle to walk through a shopping centre without being accosted by someone trying to sign us up to monthly donations for charities?

Where do you suppose your wage comes from? Do you pull it from thin air? Is it all government funded or do you chase everyday people for donations?

CaptSkippy · 04/07/2019 00:31

So as a follow up question:

Is it possible that some charities are just too big of they need to compete with the private sector for staff?
Are you then not at risk of getting people without passion for the cause, but who are merely interested in a large paycheck?

GleefulGlitch · 04/07/2019 00:34

You do know you can say no right?

My wages come from donations that are not specified as welfare donations and investments. No government funding.

No we do not chase people every day. We fund raise at events, advertise and rely on people wanting to donate.
You sound very bitter.

CaptSkippy · 04/07/2019 00:37

I once signed up with Oxfam during an outdoor festival. Was out drinking with friends. Slightly intoxicated and got approached by someone asking for monthly donations.
I signed up, but canceled it as soon as I could, because I felt the practice was predatory.

omafiet · 04/07/2019 00:39

this notion of paying bargain basement salaries and still attracting the cream of the crop is a fallacy and it just doesn’t work.

I completely agree. And dare I say it (particularly with the shower of shite we have at the moment) but I don't think high-level politicians are incredibly well paid.

justaminiit · 04/07/2019 00:40

No that's f*cking insane. No one should earn that much money. You haven't 'earnt every penny'- you're just capitalising on charity and people less fortunate than you. People don't 'deserve' that much money otherwise as the saying goes mothers in 3rd world countries would be the richest in the world for their hard work. That is such a privileged white mindset. You're just a greedy capitalist having a humble brag and trying to make yourself feel better. No. It's scummy and you are being very unreasonable.