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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:
Ferret27 · 05/07/2019 10:38

@Amissicissma. ... absolutely spot on ... the lie that is consistently perpetuated is that only these top earners can generate wealth and jobs.... the charity sector is like all other businesses in the U.K..
Many are mismanaged... accounts and pensions of the majority of the workforce are plundered... and tax payers end up picking up the tab...
The unfairness that runs through all business is that those on the top never leave there roles without securing a multiple of pay offs and secured packages that would set most ordinary people up for life ... even if they run the company into the ground ... how is that fair..
I can barely name any sector where the majority of businesses do not walk (cross)the fine line of treating their clients/ workforce’s simply as tools to line one or two individuals pockets.... once they have signed up to receive huge bonuses,pensions, golden handshakes and severance packages.... it’s wrong and the reason the world is spiralling into dispair as the cards are stacked against the working poor.

MargoLovebutter · 05/07/2019 10:39

Not about wages but just large Charities I work in financial services we advise one of the UKs most well known big charities one which gets a fair amount of bad press. We invest tens of millions of ££s for them. They are not spending this money on their cause, they also have tens of millions in their pension fund. Sickens me I won’t be donating to them

So having an investment portfolio for money at a time when putting it in a bank is actually losing money is a bad decision? It is good governance to have 'reserves' so that if all your donors pull out or things go tits up, the charity can still run. Lots of well advised charities will have those reserves invested at the moment, because if they left in a bank account it would lose money. I can't believe you can't work this out yourself if you work in financial services.

What is wrong with charities having pension funds for their employees? I think you will find that nowadays it is mandatory for employers to provide pension schemes. Are you suggesting that charities and their staff should be exempt from the law?

Lifecraft · 05/07/2019 10:43

@piesfortea You don't need to consider employment laws if you don't have employees.

Following on from my explanation of why this is complete crap, just wondering if pies would be kind enough to acknowledge she got this badly wrong?

I know it's a long shot, but it's worth a try.

Lifecraft · 05/07/2019 10:46

they also have tens of millions in their pension fund.

Good for them.

If they had a £10m hole in their pension fund, people would be saying how dreadful it was, and demanded the head of the charity be sacked!

Ferret27 · 05/07/2019 10:58

£50k is too low ... I agree and. Hats off to the Op and her team that improved the charities income stream.... I’m pretty sure that in your charity as in most businesses many of the lower paid were screaming out about the waste in general and lack of revenue generated by the ads... the reality is those at the top often won’t listen... I’ve seen this in so many poor performing businesses ( and better ones)
We have banks that have failed and thousands of huge even global businesses that have failed ... boards on huge salaries ... how much you pay the top tier does not guarantee skill ... these people are savvy and get to the top by playing the game ... other more skilled people do not go for the top job because they refuse to work this way ... that’s why so many people have to whistle blow..

jillybeanclevertips · 05/07/2019 11:07

If you have the skills and experience, you've earned a good wage. Shouldn't matter what sector you are in, unless its a footballer, who I think earn way too much. Yes charities need good people working for them and should expect to pay the industry going rate, else all qualified and good workers will go into the private sector. Also, I don't think its anybodies business what you earn. If someone doesn't like it, go to university/college get better educated and then get better paid jobs. Or sit in your menial job and cry in your tea, Boo-hoo.

Belenus · 05/07/2019 11:23

If someone doesn't like it, go to university/college get better educated and then get better paid jobs. Or sit in your menial job and cry in your tea, Boo-hoo

There are all sorts of twists and turns in life that mean you may or may not gain a well-paid job. I have a first class BA, masters and PhD. They really do not guarantee me a well-paid job. Life is rarely that simple.

BowiesJumper · 05/07/2019 11:39

YANBU.

I get paid just over what your friends are suggesting would be a fair wage (in a totally different sector), but I have nowhere near the level of experience, expertise or ability to be a CEO of a major charity or equivalent! For that, you need to pay for someone who will be the best at the job. And if you don't they will be working in the private sector instead - and the charity will not be run in the best way it can, to be the most efficient and effective. Surely people understand that? Yes £150k is a big salary, but that is the going rate (or below the going rate).

Do you think charities should hire inexperienced/unskilled people to run it?

DonkeyHohtay · 05/07/2019 11:49

Investing money if you're an emergency relief charity is very smart. It means you have more money available to you when the next tsunami or hurricane hits. Stick it in the bank and it won't grow at all.

And how DARE charities comply with law and have pension funds! Outrageous!

Lifecraft · 05/07/2019 11:55

There are all sorts of twists and turns in life that mean you may or may not gain a well-paid job. I have a first class BA, masters and PhD. They really do not guarantee me a well-paid job. Life is rarely that simple.

Whilst this is definitely true, what's also true is that there are literally millions of people who didn't work hard at school, didn't get good grades, never did any further education, would never consider adult education, have never really made an effort to improve their chances in life, stuck in crappy jobs for low money, who fucking hate it that others who have put in a lot more effort get far higher rewards.

They are lazy, uneducated, bitter, jealous mean spirited oafs, and they are out in force on this thread.

Just my opinion.

XXVaginaAndAUterus · 05/07/2019 12:03

someone doesn't like it, go to university/college get better educated and then get better paid jobs. Or sit in your menial job and cry in your tea, Boo-hoo

As somebody with a doctorate who developed disability as a result of studying that severely limits my earning potential, F the F off.

Passthecherrycoke · 05/07/2019 12:04

Charities have to have reserves otherwise the charities commission would wind them down as unviable. I’m surprised someone who works for an institutional investor doesn’t know this

PettyContractor · 05/07/2019 12:06

IT is administration and is not very skilled as a role.

I work in IT, I remember commenting to my father was I was about 27 that I was earning more than the Prime Minister. I wonder why they paid me so much when any literate minimum wage worker could apparently do my job.

There was nothing exceptional about my situation, I was just another bum on seat, albeit with a particular set of niche skills, among many others being paid comparable amounts, in both public and private sector organisations. (I also get a pay premium due to the insecurity of being a contractor rather than an employee.)

(Although this was long ago, and I think the proportion of IT workers who earn more the Prime Minister would be much lower today. Not because the job has become less skilled, but because it can be done from a workstation in India.)

Screamanger · 05/07/2019 12:22

someone doesn't like it, go to university/college get better educated and then get better paid jobs. Or sit in your menial job and cry in your tea, Boo-hoo

Minimum wage = minimum skills.

YoungEurope · 05/07/2019 12:36

I no longer donate financially to charities, apart from our local big issue seller and children's schools.
I donate bags of clothes / household goods to a small local hospice shop.

My DM donates to Cafod and they're forever contacting her to increase her donation / leave a legacy which I find very distasteful as she's a vulnerable pensioner.

I agree with others who have said that charities are big business now.

saraclara · 05/07/2019 13:32

I agree with others who have said that charities are big business now.

The ones that are big business now, NEED to be, to be effective. They are national/international charities who have committed themselves to big spending in order to respond to need when it arises.

The difference is that unlike other businesses, no-one profits from what they make. There are no owners or shareholders. The money they make or create either goes to pay salaries, buy equipment, or help the people they're there for.

titchy · 05/07/2019 13:37

If its a choice of 100k of donations going to the cause, or 1m of 2m going to the cause, I'll go with he 100k.

That's an interesting take. Some might interpret that as your desire to donate to charity being motivated more by your need to feel virtuous than your desire to help those in need....

titchy · 05/07/2019 13:39

Try maintaining a database without being reasonably skilled at IT.

And GDPR compliant....

Lifecraft · 05/07/2019 13:50

If its a choice of 100k of donations going to the cause, or 1m of 2m going to the cause, I'll go with he 100k.

That's an interesting take. Some might interpret that as your desire to donate to charity being motivated more by your need to feel virtuous than your desire to help those in need

Exactly right. It's dogma over pragmatism. It tells me they actually don't care about battered kittens or donkeys with MS or whatever else the charity is about. They'd rather help fewer recipients, than pay someone a large salary who has the skills to raise more money and help more recipients.

Pretty unpleasant really.

saraclara · 05/07/2019 14:07

I'm glad I didn't have to become a hypocrite when my husband had terminal cancer and we received a massive amount of help and support from Macmillan and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Had I refused to ever donate to either because they actually paid the nurses that attended my husband and sat with him through the night while I slept, and the admin person who sat and filled in every form for us so that he and I got all the benefits we were entitled to, obviously I couldn't possibly have let us both benefit from what they do for people.

Actually, maybe he shouldn't have even received the chemotherapy that bought him two extra years of life, because a BIG charity probably funded a lot of the research.

Obviously piesfortea and her like, are going to refuse any support or or benefit from any big charity should they ever need it.

MargoLovebutter · 05/07/2019 14:13

So sorry about your husband saraclara and agree with everything you say.

There are very few charities that are out to overpay their staff, divert funds to improper investments and so on. Most charities are run completely for the benefit of their charitable purpose and all the staff (who are usually less well paid than in the private sector) are fully committed to the cause of the charity. We should fairly remunerate people who work for the benefit of others and the example you gave illustrates that perfectly.

Cinammoncake · 05/07/2019 14:21

I'd say pay the nurses a bit more and the CEO a bit less.. but clearly an unpopular opinion on this thread.

It's clear that people who earn these vast amounts feel they are worth every penny. I'm picking up an attitude that those beneath them, the serfs, must just be jealous. To me it summarises pay inequality in this country. To think a CEO might earn say 5 times the lowest salary has been dismissed as ludicrous, but I don't think that is ludicrous. Because people at 'the bottom' would quickly benefit.

Also, FWIW there are plenty of educated and skilled people who are earning nowhere near 150k but I'm sure are as capable and hardworking as the OP

Passthecherrycoke · 05/07/2019 14:43

@Cinammoncake can I ask how that would work? There are nearly 5000 McMillan nurses, how would decreasing the CEOs pay actually help them?

Lifecraft · 05/07/2019 14:46

They might be as hardworking, and they may be very capable at something else, but they clearly aren't as capable of heading up a multi million pound business. Because if they were, they would be.

Very few people would choose to dig holes in the road for the gas board (which is very hard work and they are probably very capable hole diggers) if they had the skills to run the gas board.

Cinammoncake · 05/07/2019 14:51

Fair enough passthecherrycoke

FWIW I'm just saying the nurses imo are worth every penny and if there's funds available where they could get more, they should. I reckon people who donate to that particular charity are expecting to pay for nurses.

Overpaying CEO's not so much. I'm sure they too do a great job but as pp have said, on the back of everyone else's hard work too, and I think over 100k is too much in the charity sector.