How to agree a fair salary?

[GNfan]

I work in charity admin (banking, office admin, IT, reception work, data entry, venue booking, etc) and am paid £22k. My (new) boss wants to meet to discuss this, as he says he thinks I am underpaid!
Ok, that sounds good... but what do I say if he asks "What do you think you should be paid?" (or similar)
I feel really naive. I actually do think I deserve to be paid more, and have already saved the charity money by improving some processes... but still, it's an uncomfortable conversation for me, especially as it's a charity.
I think he (CEO) earns about £50k. Most of the others in the office (IT people, project coordinators, etc) earn around £30-£35k. Nobody else does the kind of work I do. Work that is often looked down on by some people, but work that keeps the organisation running smoothly, and work I really really enjoy.
The charity (v small, not well known) currently has good sources of funding.
Hmmm.

Well don't do yourself down is a good start, sounds like you are valuable to them! A good starting point in these conversations is to look around at what other similar positions in other organisations in the sector are paid, you can usually get a good idea by browsing job adverts and some recruitment agencies post salary benchmark reports too. So I'd see what you can find online to give you a ballpark - from what I can see from a very quick google charity administration roles seem to range from £19-£24k ish outside London and £23-28k ish in London so assuming you are outside London you aren't miles away but there's some scope for an increase. Also I do consider that generally speaking, if you are doing a good job and the organisation isn't in financial crisis it's not unreasonable to ask for a pay rise each year in line with inflation, just as a baseline, so that certainly puts you in the asking for c.10% additional area.

If you really, honestly feel too awkward asking for a payrise though you could always think about what else the company could to reward your work/enhance your career, e.g. is there any training or qualifications relevant to your job you'd like to do, they could pay for that on your behalf instead of direct salary increase. If it would let you do more within your role then that would be doubly valuable to them. Or they could put more money into your pension or provide other benefits like private healthcare or similar, if that feels more palatable to you, although these are probably changes they'd need to make for everyone rather than just you...

You need to look online and see what similar jobs are paying. Take that as evidence to your boss.

Agree with others - take a look at the market and see what the rates are. But, assuming you're not a first time or junior admin, I would agree that your salary should be notably higher, depending on where you are. Your role appears to me to a cross between secretarial and office manager, with some operations tossed in and, if you've been doing it for a while and have good experience then yes, I'd expect well above £25k, certainly in London. In the private sector, I'd expect a role like that to pay over £30k, depending on sector and scope of responsibilities.

Ask at the mid-to-upper end of what you think sounds fair, but outline it with STAR first...

I.e.
Situation: the company is this and needs this
Task: your expected responsibilities
Action: how you achieve it and go above and beyond
Result: how you plan on bringing being amazing inthe future.

My wife always says... at the moment you have a no. The worst thing that can happen is still a no, but you might get a yes :)

Thank you so much for your lovely replies. They really helped. My manager asked to have the chat this afternoon, it went well and we agreed £27,500. I was quite astonished actually. I've been bruised/taken for granted/taken advantage of at previous jobs, so this was quite eye opening. So lovely to feel valued and appreciated. 👍😊

Well done op!!!!

Nice salary increase - good to see you’re getting rewarded for your efforts..

So lovely to hear of an employer not taking advantage - that's great for you and surely makes you feel valued

Well done on the increase. Your original salary is what you would be on in my charity for the same kind of job.

Brilliant result and update. Well done to both you and your boss!

Nice one OP, and nice one on your boss for recognising it and addressing it. Good boss there.