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Ask HN: Developer salary at nonprofit in Bay Area?

11 points by m52go ↗ HN
I see numbers all over the place, so I'm wondering if there's some kind of rule-of-thumb for figuring this out (average % lower than for-profit?).

The position I'm concerned with is a lead data analyst position at a well-funded nonprofit in the Bay Area.

But I'd love to hear your thoughts/experience about compensation at nonprofits in general.

10 comments

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sfrailsdev
Non profits vary widely enough that you see places that can only take volunteer developer time and maybe provide some sort of tax benefit, maybe not, and places that pay something approaching market rate.

What's important is that you feel fairly compensated, and that you don't have to fight for that too hard, so that your income continues to grow.

zephharben
I worked at two technology-focused nonprofits over a stretch of 11 years (mostly in management). At a well-funded nonprofit, you can expect salaries to run around 25 - 30% below market rates.

For organizations that are closely aligned with humanitarian causes (e.g. health projects in the developing world), I've noticed a much higher gap, presumably because these organizations are able to attract talent that's more passionate about the cause/willing to accept lower compensation.

m52go
Wow that's much lower than I thought.

I've been looking through some 990s to get a rough idea, but that ballpark percentage difference is what I haven't been able to figure out.

Thanks!

shoo
There's a few statistics about salary adjustments for work that is perceived as more or less socially responsible in Jeff Schmidt's book "disciplined minds".

What is the "moral reservation premium" in salary expected in return for selling out and working for an employer seen as less socially responsible?

* a typical student would rather work as an advertising copywriter for the american cancer society than an advertising copywriter for camel cigarettes, and would want a salary 50% higher to do it for the cigarette company

* a typical student would want +17% salary to work as an accountant for a petrochemical company instead of doing the same job for an art museum

* "men are more likely than women to sell out, and this accounts for at least part of the gap in average salaries between men and women"

more detail in: R H Frank, "Can Socially Responsible Firms Survive in a Competitive Environment?" 1996

zachlatta
30% below market is considered competitive for well-funded Bay Area nonprofits. 70-80k for software engineers.
seattle_spring
That's FAR below 30% less than market.
zachlatta
Depends who you talk to. But yeah, it can be a much bigger pay cut for some people.
amorphid
I'd say it depends on how well the non-profit is doing. I recruited a couple dozen engineers for a couple of successful non-profits in the Bay Area. They usually paid 10% to 20% less than my startup clients, and probably offered a less demanding life style.
brudgers
Non-profit does not mean charity, though it can. If the non-profit is well funded then there's not necessarily a reason that employees ought to make direct donations via their paycheck.

None of which is to say that a particular individual might not wish to take a position with a particular non-profit that pays less than market rate for a variety of reasons. Only that non-profits often pay full market rate for development [in the context of donors] and fund-raising and administrative staff as well as for services and goods from outside organizations.

Good luck.

nmgsd
Kaiser Permanente is technically a non-profit. Their wages are more or less in line for tech jobs at bloated big bureaucratic companies where the performance demands are low and the meetings schedule is full.

edit: but other non-profits will typically pay much lower.