501 Commons is partnering with the King County Veterans, Seniors & Human Services Levy (VSHSL) to administer two important nonprofit employment surveys. We believe the results will shed light on what we can do to attract people to enter and remain in nonprofit careers. The Wage and Benefits Survey seeks information about employee compensation. The Employee Engagement Survey asks staff questions about compensation, diversity, communications, and other factors contributing to job satisfaction.

There is no cost to participate in the surveys. VSHSL funding allows the aggregate results to be provided to nonprofits as a free community resource. Individual responses will remain confidential. Only aggregate data will be made public.

The Wage and Benefits Survey

Someone familiar with employee compensation and benefits (usually the executive director, HR staff, or finance manager) should provide pay levels for each job at your organization and information about the benefits you offer. After the survey closes, and data has been collected and synthesized, you will be able to access compensation information for 200+ job titles from nonprofits across King County and filter these results by subsector and budget size if enough nonprofits participate.

The time required to input your wage and benefit information varies depending on how many positions you have. Please download a PDF copy so you can see in advance what preparation is necessary for you. Generally, we've found that organizations with 1-20 employees can finish in an hour or less, larger organizations need a couple of hours, and very large organizations (45+ employees) may need to calendar a few hours to do this work.

It is important that organizations of all sizes and types participate in these surveys so that the wage and benefit information is robust and reliable. Organizations outside of King County may benefit from this information as well, but will need to consider differential pay levels in their county.

Visit the Third Sector New England Salary Survey to see the kind of information we will be able to provide if enough nonprofits participate. Below are examples from the New England study of types of information you can expect to find later this year:

Note: These numbers do not reflect the compensation information for King County nonprofits.

Here's what Janet Nazy, the executive director of Wallingford Community Senior Center, has to say about what she plans to do with the survey results:

“As an Executive Director, you have a very busy schedule. Instead of having to take time to do research on my own, the Wage and Benefits survey is an invaluable resource. It [will allow] me to ensure WCSC is competitive on wages and benefits... Our employees are our biggest asset. I want to ensure we are treating them fairly and the Wage and Benefits analysis helps keep us informed of where the market is and where we might need to improve so we can retain our employees and stay competitive," Janet says.

Employee Engagement Survey

All nonprofit employees in King County are invited to share their experience working in the nonprofit sector. Questions on the survey include your satisfaction with compensation, the support and direction you received from your supervisor, the information provided by leadership, if the culture is inclusive, and more.

The survey is available in multiple languages, and all responses are confidential. Please note that only part-time and full-time paid staff are eligible to take this survey. Volunteers, board members, interns, and contractors cannot participate.

The Employee Engagement Survey closes in late June 2021. It should take about 15-20 minutes to complete. All employee responses are kept confidential. We will synthesize the data using a proven methodology that protects the identity of the survey respondents.

An organization's executive can request an Employee Engagement survey report comparing their aggregated employee responses to the overall responses. To protect employee confidentiality, we will not provide an organizational report if fewer than five employees participate from an organization. For a fee, we can provide customized questions and additional analysis to the Employee Engagement Survey. Please email Jenny Lundqvist at jennyl@501commons.org to learn more.

Here are a few helpful resources:

• Download this Survey Toolkit to access sample email text and a handy flyer you can distribute to your staff.
• Print and distribute this flyer to promote the surveys at your worksite.
• You can find answers to the most common questions about the surveys in our FAQ.

How do I stay informed?

• If you are a nonprofit executive or staff member who will steward your organization's participation in the Wage and Benefit survey, please fill out this form to receive email updates. We will send you the survey link and instructions on how to submit your data.
• If you are an executive, let us know the email, name, and title of the person you want to receive the Employee Engagement Survey link to distribute to staff. Please fill out this form to receive notifications about the surveys and resources to prepare for your team’s participation.
• If you are a nonprofit employee, sign up to participate in the Employee Engagement Survey. We will send you the link when the survey launches. We encourage you to share the link and information about the survey with others you know who work in the nonprofit sector.

Questions or concerns? Read the Frequently Asked Questions for guidance. If you still don’t see what you’re looking for, please email Jenny Lundqvist at jenny@501commons.org.