# Trends in UK charity salary and organisational culture released

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/05/14/trends-in-uk-charity-salary-and-organisational-culture-released/
- Published: 2026-05-14T14:43:55+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The CharityComms Salary and Organisational Culture Survey 2025 has been published,
revealing trends in compensation, satisfaction and pressure points among communications
and marketing salaries in the UK charity sector.**

Published for 12 years, the report includes data on fundraising, management and 
leadership roles and issues.

## Fundraising and job satisfaction

Fundraisers report the highest job satisfaction (**72%**) amongst those surveyed,
despite ranking lowest on the sector’s pay scale. The **average salary for a fundraising
specialist is £38,069**, placing it at the lower end of specialisms. This high satisfaction
among fundraisers contrasts with the general sector finding that **63% of comms 
professionals** overall are happy.

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## Leadership and management trends

The survey highlights a significant pay gap, with managers (34% of respondents) 
earning an average of £48,217, substantially higher than the £36,297 average for
non-managerial staff.

However, satisfaction drops at the top. The report identifies a “squeezed middle”
where middle management and senior officer roles report the lowest job satisfaction.**
Only 40% of senior executives or officers **say they are happy in their roles. This
low satisfaction is attributed to handling significant management stress and stretched
resources without the salary compensation seen at the highest levels.

## Sector-wide concerns

Burnout is a major issue, with one in three (33%) charity comms professionals reporting
they are currently burned out, and an equal proportion planning a career move in
the next year. The widespread frustration over salary is compounded by the fact 
that 63% of professionals have no training or development opportunities planned 
for the next year.

The average salary across all comms roles saw a slight rise from the previous year
to **£43,168**.

The survey received [325 responses](https://www.charitycomms.org.uk/about-our-survey-respondents)
from people ” who responded to the survey, “who work across a range of comms roles
and levels, from charities of all sizes and causes throughout the UK”.

Of respondents, **36%** work at healthcare and health-related charities, with **
8.6%** in education and **7% **in environment or conservation.  

Most have one to three years of experience in their current organisation (**42%**)
and 7-10 years in communications (**21%**). 

You can [read the full survey at CharityComms](https://www.charitycomms.org.uk/salary-and-organisational-culture-survey-2025).
CharityComms is the membership network for communications professionals working 
in and with UK charities.

 * **[Fundraiser salaries increase just 1% overall but big swings in some categories, survey shows](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/01/29/fundraiser-salaries-overall-big-swings-categories-survey-shows/)(
   29 January 2019)**
 * **[Average fundraiser salary shows real terms pay cut](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/07/18/average-fundraiser-salary-shows-real-terms-pay-cut/)(
   18 July 2023)