The purpose of "Putting People First" is to build a stronger and more effective nonprofit sector – both within and outside King County, WA – so organizations can be better equipped to serve our communities. This project is a result of a partnership between 501 Commons and the King County Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy (VSHSL). We share a common interest in discovering data-driven solutions to chronic under-investment in the people who work in our sector.

Overall workforce shortages make it easy for people to find a new job. Inflation and rising housing and childcare costs are forcing people to leave jobs and teams they love. Community-based nonprofits often lose talented and experienced team members to the larger and better resourced parts of the nonprofit sector, especially unionized workplaces in government, education, and health care. 

The nonprofit sector is ill-equipped to deal with the rising salary and benefit expectations of workers. We are, however, well equipped to attract workers looking for jobs that align with their values. We need to catalyze our partner sectors—business, government, and philanthropy—to help us put people first by increasing their investments and changing their contracting and grant-making processes in ways that would allow us to improve nonprofit wages and benefits.

The 2025 King County Nonprofit Wage & Benefits & Employee Engagement Surveys are Now Open!

For the third time, we’re inviting nonprofits based in or serving King County to participate in two important surveys that can help you reduce turnover, recruit incredible employees, and build a happier workplace.

Wage & Benefits Survey (open until April 18, 2025)

A staff member (usually an HR/finance person or executive leader) enters information on salaries, benefits, and HR practices into a secure online portal. The aggregated data are shared in a detailed report. The 2023 Wage & Benefits Report featured salary information for 175 jobs. This salary information is also easily available for FREE to nonprofits and job seekers through the 501 Compensation Tracker. If you need assistance, contact Rita Haronian at (510) 645-1005 or survey@nonprofitcomp.com.

Employee Engagement Survey (open until May 25, 2025)

Employees are asked to share what factors (including their paycheck) impact how they feel about their job. Participants can anonymously rate things such as work culture, how well your supervisor supports you, factors that lead to job satisfaction, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and more. All full-time and part-time employees are eligible to participate, as well as employees who work at a nonprofit elsewhere but reside in King County. To help encourage participation, we recommend you:

• Distribute this flyer to eligible nonprofit employees.
• Use these key talking points and sample email text.
• Allow staff to complete the survey during work hours, which will encourage higher levels of participation and honesty.
• If your staff has questions about the Employee Engagement Survey (including wanting reassurances that the survey is truly anonymous), send them this list of FAQs.

We want to create a more resilient nonprofit sector that can better face the challenges brought upon by cost-of-living increases, funding shortages, reduced donor and volunteer support, and government policy.

By completing both surveys, you can help provide actionable and tangible data that could be used to advocate for policy and funding changes that strengthen our organizations. The more data we collect, the more valuable it will be!

2023 Results

The most recent iteration of this project happened from February to June 2023, when 501 Commons administered two ambitious surveys to collect data on wage and compensation practices, employee satisfaction, and the factors that lead to a great work environment. This project was first launched in 2021. The 2023 reports are available to download:

• Wage & Benefits Survey Report: A critical challenge facing nonprofit organizations is attracting, recruiting, and retaining well-qualified professional and support staff. The purpose of this report is to help our sector offer competitive compensation, attractive benefits packages, and equitable policies. Accurate and comprehensive data on salaries and benefits in the nonprofit field will help organizations evaluate their own compensation and benefits practices and guide these policies moving forward.
  
  Visit the online 501 Compensation Tracker to easily compare compensation data from several job titles (if you are outside King County, stay tuned, we will be providing geographic adjusters that you can use to reflect wages in your community).
  
  
• Employee Engagement Survey Report: The purpose of the survey is to identify both the wage and non-wage factors that are linked to high employee engagement, attracting and retaining staff, and producing strong client services. The results of this survey, along with the wage survey, can provide King County nonprofits with low-cost ways to improve employee satisfaction and lower the risk of turnover.

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