strange query about salaries...

penski

penski

penski

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an acquaintance or two of mine are in the process of starting a charity...from a few chats and from seeing who is involved, it has the possibility of being rather succesful...the nature of the charity is something which is quite close to both of our hearts too.

they have mentioned in the past that they are quite interested in getting me onboard to handle everything from initial admin and secretarial work then copywriting, press stuff, marketing, tea-making (;))...basically the nuts and bolts work to make the charity work in itself, in printed media and online.

I've been asked roughly what I'd expect to get paid for the job if it came to being and I've no idea...

do I take it as an admin job and say 14k or as a more involved job and say 18?

I'm not concerned with making big money out of it...hell, I can live comfortably on minimum wage...just wondering what would be deemed appropriate given the charity status, relationship to the founders and possibility of the role expanding even more in the future.

a simple "if you said yes, how much would you want a year?" has got me baffled.

ta for any help/advice/guidance/experience if you have it!

*n
 
Take what you are comfortable with :)

If you can't decide between 14 and 18, go for 16 :p

btw, when you say secretarial stuff, do you mean the "official" secretary, or just a note taker?
 
I would say that at the moment the most successful charities are the ones which are run as though they were normal comercial companies. With this in mind, you should quote the amount that you think you are worth for the job, regardless of industry. If you are worth paying 18K, then it is because you can provide a return on that investment for them.
 
TheDean said:
I think 18k is taking the **** a bit mate - Go for £17k
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based on doing web work, copywriting, secretarial work (both note-taking and 'proper' secretary-type stuff), organising the marketing side of things, press releases and so on...

...and when the time comes, all the donkey work for events and such...

nothing is set in concrete yet, anyway...we'd be looking at the tail end of the year before things start winding up...my problem is that because I've not done everything the role requires as one single job in the past but still have all the relevant experience, I have nothing to base it on.

I'm on a 17.5k basic atm doing a fraction of what this would require...do I take a hefty drop while taking on more work?

*n
 
Depends

You might get more job satisfaction from such a diverse role for roughly the same wages. Maybe you could meet somewhere in the middle on Salary ?
 
If you are the official secretary, I would ask for more, only because you will be legally bound to the company. I.e. if one of the MD's/Directors does an Enron, or similar, you're facing jailtime.
 
if you would have to leave your current job and are living ok on that then why not ask for the same amount?

You can also state in your contract that bonuses and raises should be offered as the work load and success of the charity increases!
 
I work in local government and from your description I'd say an equivalent post here would be a Scale 4 post. You'd be earning between £15,675 and £17,985 depending on how long you've been in the role.
 
If you would be doing more work, then you need more money to tempt you away from your current job. Dont take a pay cut for more effort! That's crazy.
Whatever you tell them, say that it's for the first year and you'd like a mutual review at the end of that year, since you don't know until you've started just how much work/profit (and so on) this job will entail.
 
Helium_Junkie said:
. Dont take a pay cut for more effort! That's crazy.
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Tosh!!

I personally would take a pay cut if its something i felt passionately about and i could still cover my bills. There is such as a thing as job satisfaction you know, not everybody works purely for the money!
 
I'd say definitely ask for what you're on now - and explain it as that - 'I'm currently earning x, and this is a lot more work tbh, but because it's a charity and thus would be a really fulfilling job, I'll do it for what I'm currently getting'.

OT, but does the world really need another charity? There are more charity shops than coffee shops in my town - and there are a lottt of coffee shops.
 
wolseley said:
I would say that at the moment the most successful charities are the ones which are run as though they were normal comercial companies. With this in mind, you should quote the amount that you think you are worth for the job, regardless of industry. If you are worth paying 18K, then it is because you can provide a return on that investment for them.
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That is a very smart post. I used to be a director at a charity and I took a salary which was consumate with my role regardless of the sector. The team I brought in were paid the same as similar roles in the private sector and had similar incientives. As a result the operation ran very efficiently with well motivated staff.

You want to see some of the innovative deals cut by charities in recent times. Guide Dogs for the Blind, for example, have enough money to provide a guide dog for every blind person in the country thanks to income from a very successful dog semen sales programme across the world. This was the result of some great thinking from their CEO of the time, who would have made a great business leader in any industry.

To the OP, do not feel guilty about asking for what you think you're worth. If you make a difference in the way you envisage then the job satisfaction will come without compromise to your salary. And it will be better for the charity to have you on board than someone else. A classic win-win.


fini said:
OT, but does the world really need another charity? There are more charity shops than coffee shops in my town - and there are a lottt of coffee shops.
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Well in England and Wales there are more than 168,000, so some would say you have a point. You can read all about them at www.guidestar.org.uk
 
Helium_Junkie said:
I don't either, I love my job. But I wouldn't ask my boss to cut my pay and increase my workload, so why would I ask a 'potential' boss to?
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ditto. job satisfaction is important, but my work is secondary to my life.

If i can earn more money doing less of something i dont detest (i'm assuming he doesn't detest his current job) then unless i got an equivalent increase in money for an equivalent increase in workload i'd stay put or apply for better jobs.

The ONLY time i would drop in salary is if i was getting more experience in something i needed experience in, to later go and improve my current salary.
 
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