Chasing Salaries: The existential threat to career progression

Before we get into this topic, I think it’s worth setting out our stall at the top. Here at Bamboo HQ, we believe that fundraisers are worth their weight in Francium (the most valuable element- see ya’ later gold) and should be remunerated as richly as reasonably possible.

But, if salary becomes your only guiding light when making career decisions, the risk is that one day, you’ll find yourself in an unfulfilling, going nowhere role…

There are two main reasons this happens:

1. Selling your skills, rather than building them

Salaries are less competitive when you have as much to gain from the role, as the charity does from hiring you. It’s simple supply and demand.

If I’m joining Save the Children’s corporate team to build strategic, global partnerships in a non-leadership position, I am probably being paid less than if I were setting up a major donor programme for a small charity from scratch.

This is because the former know they have a lot to teach me, and that working for them will make me a more valuable employee, whereas the latter know they have nothing to teach me and need my expertise.

This is fine if you’ve finished growing as a professional, but not if you’re still climbing the ladder.

2. Golden handcuffs

Chasing salaries will almost certainly get you way above the market average for your level of experience, but there’s a risk you’ll be promoted to the limits of your competence. You’ll have been selling your skills rather than building them, for a while and you won’t be as competitive when you’re next looking for a role.

This can place people in the highly uncomfortable position of having to consider a heavy reduction in salary to secure the roles they’re interested in, which is often something they’re unable to accommodate once they’ve adjusted their lifestyle.

Career progression v salary

These problems occur when your plan for your career becomes secondary to salary expectations.

Of course, you should push to be valued to the greatest extent possible, but within the context of a role that fulfils your long-term career aspirations.

To fulfil your potential, we’d advise the following:

Speak to people who’ve achieved what you want

You might be someone who has their career mapped out and knows they want to be Cancer Research UK’s Director of Fundraising one day, or you might know you want your next role to be in international development.

It doesn’t matter how well-developed your plans are - find someone who has already done what you’re looking to do (LinkedIn is a fabulous tool for this) and ask if they’ll meet you for a coffee. Ask them how they did it, and what they’d suggest you do to accomplish the same.

Have clear aims for each career move

Before beginning to explore new roles, have a clear idea of what your non-monetary objectives are and don’t compromise on them, regardless of the salary on offer.

If you’re looking for a role where you’ll work on international projects, (on multi-country partnerships), don’t settle for an international role where you’ll be working on traditional charity of the year partnerships because the high salary helps you rationalise it.

These sorts of compromises might result in a higher salary now, but at the cost of even higher salaries in the long term.

I know what you’re thinking: ‘Why would I listen to a recruitment consultant? Of course, they’re going to tell me to accept a lower salary’.

Okay, you don’t have to listen to me, but what about those who have been there and done it? Here are two real-life accounts that highlight the pros and cons of salary chasing:

“I was there during the major donor boom in UK fundraising when the new wave of philanthropy came over from the US and the majority of UK charities were looking to build out teams. I was incredibly fortunate to have previously worked at a US University and was receiving plenty of lucrative job offers.

In the end, I settled on a small charity with an extremely fundable proposition, with no track record in major donor fundraising. I felt that the strength of my experience would allow me to build the fundraising platform quickly, and resolutely demonstrate my impact.

Unfortunately, it involved 3-years of painstaking work, often fielding internal arguments whilst I embedded the lessons and learnings from my previous role. I was extremely proud of what we had achieved, but it was small fry compared to what my peers were achieving. I felt like I was playing catch-up as the techniques, approaches, and language had changed so much around me.

In the end, I had to take a salary drop to take on a more junior role with a larger charity, as they were unconvinced of my ability to work with their larger donors, due to the smaller, less well-developed programme I had been working on.

I now have the job of my dreams, but that misstep cost me about 2 – 3 years of career progression and I always warn my team against similar choices. Fundraising is a valuable, misunderstood, complex area of work and there are charities who will dazzle you with salaries to have you solve their problems for them, but they aren’t thinking of your long-term prospects. You have to be the guardian of your own career.”

- Director of Partnerships & Philanthropy, International Charity

“One of the best things I ever did for my career was make a series of sideways moves. It helped me accomplish what I wanted to in the long-term.

My first boss in fundraising was a phenomenal fundraiser and leader, who went on to become Director of Fundraising for one of the UK’s largest charities.

He was a keen teacher and sat down with me one day to map out my career ambitions and what my plan was for getting there. I wanted to be Director of Fundraising for a charity having impact within my local community one day and he pointed out that my progress through high-value fundraising left a gap in my knowledge around individual giving, community, and events, which form an incredibly important part of the puzzle for smaller charities.

He convinced me to take a sort of high-value fundraising sabbatical, to make a series of sideways moves into these areas of fundraising to broaden my experience. I spent 4 years exploring these other areas, before returning to high value.

This experience has proven to be invaluable. Earlier in my career, it provided me with perspectives my colleagues didn’t have, and later it gave me the breadth of experience I needed to secure the Director of Fundraising job I had coveted.

In the short-term, I probably fell £5k behind my peers in the salary stakes, but in the long-term, I have gone on to get the leadership role, while many of my peers have become stuck as expert leaders within their chosen income streams.”

- Director of Fundraising, Local Homelessness Charity

Final Word

When making career decisions, try to focus on your future pension pot rather than tomorrow’s bank balance. The future you will thank you.

If you’d like to discuss your next career move, get in touch on 0203 750 3111.