The survey included participants from a broad array of sub-sectors, with the largest number of respondents coming from the youth-at-risk and education sectors (24% and 23% respectively). Other sectors represented included: civil/human rights, religion, special needs, social welfare, woman’s organizations, health, environment, LGBTQ, animal rights, arts, and Israel advocacy.

Individual Professional Profiles and Experience

Over 80% of those surveyed were female. Most respondents did not have a degree or certification in a relevant area of study (e.g. Non-profit Management or Business Administration). Just 27% reported having a certification in fundraising or grant writing. There was a wide range of years of experience – 30% reported between 10-19 years of experience, 23% reported 5-9% and 25% reported 2-4 years of experience (Figure 3). Almost 99% of respondents reported that English was required for their job while 85% said that their job required that they speak Hebrew.

Roles within the organization

Thirty-Four percent (34%) of respondents managed the Resource Development for their organization on their own while a quarter of the respondents managed a resource development team. Grant writers comprised the third largest group of respondents (21%), followed by mid- level managers (19%) and other (18%) (Figure 4).

Job Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction levels are overall fairly high. Thirty percent (30%) of respondents described themselves as “very satisfied” with their job and 52% said they were “somewhat satisfied”. In contrast, only 13% reported “dissatisfied” and 5% “very dissatisfied” (Figure 5).

The degree to which respondents felt that they are part of the management of the organization is also encouraging as over half feel that they are included “a great deal” or “a moderate amount”. Another positive finding was the percentage of participants who reported feeling appreciated by the management of the organization. Eighty percent (80%) felt that they were appreciated a “great amount” or “a moderate amount”. In addition, about 80% half of the respondents felt that their bosses understood the importance of resource development for sustaining and growing their organization – 56% a great deal and 26% a moderate amount.

Commission Work

Only 2% of respondents reported having earnings that include commissions based on a percentage of funds raised. Eighteen percent (18%) shared that they have been asked by current or perspective employers to raise funds on a commission basis.

III. Resource Development Salaries in Israel

A power query was executed in order to understand the median salary and ranges by type of job, years of experience and percent time. Part time responses were grouped together as one category and is defined as 75% or less. As expected, more experience translated into higher salaries, though there was definitely a wide range of salaries reported. The average salary reported was 11,485 NIS.

Salary ranges by role

To make the data more useful, the following tables show the ranges of salaries reported by survey participants according to their years of experience and whether they work part time or full time.

A. Development Director, Supervising a Team

B. Development Director, Not Supervising a Team

C. Mid-Level Manager in Development Team

D. Grant Writer

E. Other Development Team Member

A separate question was asked about freelance rates. A total of 69 respondents reported on their hourly rates for fundraising-related work as a freelancer (in NIS). The results showed a wide range of rates from less than 100 NIS/hour to more than 300 NIS/hour, but that more freelancers tend to charge at the lower end of the range (Figure 6). The variety of rates could be related to the specific type of work done, which was not asked about in the survey.

Benefits

Regarding additional benefits, 67% of respondents received a transportation allowance, 21% were given a car allowance and 4% have a company car. Fifty-Eight (58%) percent have a Keren Hishtalmut savings plan, 36 % were compensated for their telephone and 9% detailed other supplementary benefits. 10% of respondents noted that they received no benefits at all.

IV. Conclusion

Survey findings indicate that the mean gross salary in the resource development field, 11,507 NIS, is above the current average gross salary in Israel of 10,779 NIS (Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics). When years of experience and percent time were taken into consideration, the results of the survey showed a wide range of salaries, which seem to be related to the number of years of experience. The data seems to represent resource development professionals working in small to mid-size organizations in Tel Aviv/Center and Jerusalem and surrounding areas. There also seem to be a greater of resource development professionals working on their own than managing a team.

While inferences can be made regarding whether the gross salary recorded in this survey is skewed downward due to few higher tier earners in the field participating, further data is needed for a more conclusive determination of veracity. Significant supplementary benefits, specifically a Keren Hishtalmut savings plan, were received by over half of the participants. Survey results also suggest a positive trend in respect to job satisfaction as well as an appreciative understanding of the resource development role from the side of NGO management.

Given the fact that Freelancers must pay their own social security and pension, it was slightly surprising to see their rates are on the lower end of the scale. The question was not specific to the actual freelance work and did not take into account years of experience, so it could be that the lower fees were for more simple tasks by individuals with less experience. It is also possible that freelancers are also working part time salaried jobs and supplementing them with freelance work on the side. A more detailed questionnaire would need to be administered to really understand the subtleties.

The committee would like to deeply thank the following individuals for all of their hard work in bringing this survey to fruition: Rachel Canar, Arnie Draiman, Alon Madar, Iftach Huebner, Naomi Kovitz, Nicole Levine Bittelman, Jennifer Shaw Racz, Ravit Greenberg, Rochel Englander, Brian Thau and, of course, all of the resource development professionals who took the time to complete the survey.