The gender pay gap among charity chief executives is at its highest level in a decade after rising substantially over the last year.

While last year the gap in pay between male and female charity leaders was 8.3% in 2023, it has risen to 14.4% this year, the highest level since 2014.

Women continue to be overrepresented in leadership roles at smaller charities but men still dominate higher paying chief executive posts at larger charities.

Lack of opportunities for global majority staff is a continuing problem. They make up just 7% of charity chief executives, a proportion that has remained static over the last year.

Also, just a third of chief executives say they are currently satisfied with diversity of their boards, according to charity leadership body Acevo, which has published the findings in its 2024 Pay and Equalities Survey.

“For a sector that is driven by purpose and the belief that change can be made real, we seem to be either deeply unwilling or systemically unable to make meaningful change for the people that we task with leading our sector,” said Acevo chief executive Jane Ide.

“We do ourselves no favours as a sector if we try to duck some of the realities that this survey, year after year, puts under the spotlight.

David Saint, chair of the report’s sponsor Action Planning, said: “For a sector that places such high value on diversity and inclusion, both in service delivery and in recruiting and retaining staff, it is disappointing that these changes are not reflected at the leadership level in many organisations. We can and must do better.

Salary and reviews

Acevo’s survey also found that the median annual basic salary of charity leaders was £60,000 as of summer this year.

It also found that “disappointingly” the frequency of regular salary reviews remains static and a third of leaders say they are not subject to a formal salary review process.

Almost half of charity leaders received a pay rise linked to the rising cost of living which “indicates a growing recognition of economic pressures on leaders”, said Acevo.

Elsewhere, four in five charity leaders said they are satisfied with their roles and feel empowered to make key decisions.

Almost three quarters of chief executives say they are likely to remain in the charity sector over the next five years, a proportion that has remained the same over previous year’s surveys.

Ide added: “ACEVO’s mission is to empower civil society leaders to maximise their impact for the causes and people they serve.

“The quality of sector leadership and the impact leaders can have are undoubtedly related to the level of their pay, their rewards and benefits, the opportunities for personal development, their relationship with the organisation’s board, and the time they are enabled to spend focusing on the strategic direction and health of their organisation.”

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