PFC News Investing in People: Key takeaways from the 2025 Canadian Philanthropic Salary & Benefits Report Jean-Marc Mangin PFC News 7 mins read May 5, 2025 News & Insights PFC News Investing in People: Key takeaways from the 2025 Canadian Philanthropic Salary & Benefits Report As a sector serving the public good, it’s important for philanthropic foundations to be investing wisely in the people who steward their resources and missions. Our 2025 Canadian Philanthropic Foundations Salary & Benefits Report offers timely insights into how we are supporting our workforce. Since 2001, PFC has been producing regular research on compensation for our network, and this year’s report is our most comprehensive to date. We are especially grateful to all participants for their engagement in this year’s survey and report. We saw a significantly increased response rate over previous years, with 75 foundations, members and non-members’ participation demonstrating our commitment to our network and sector-wide data. The full report will be shared with all members and survey participants. It is available for purchase by other stakeholders. The data will also contribute to our analysis for our forthcoming Working in Canadian Foundations report, expected in 2026. Below are six key insights I am taking away from this year’s study. The Shape and Scale of Foundation Workforces The average participating foundation employs 7.3 individuals, including 6 full-time staff. Yet the median number of staff is just four, suggesting a highly varied landscape where a small number of larger foundations influence the average. In our 2024 Landscape Report, we saw that in 2021, just 26% of public foundations and 9% of private foundations reported having any full or part-time staff. These numbers reflect the diverse ways foundations are structured across Canada—something we must continue to acknowledge as we consider talent pipelines and operational models. Figure 1 2025 Number of Staff Source 1 The Portage Group How Titles in Leadership are Evolving Between 2022 and 2025, we observed notable shifts in the titles used for the most senior staff person (or what the report’s author called the Chief Staff Officers) in philanthropic foundations. The title Executive Director was benchmarked in 2022 at 41% and in 2025 at 52%, indicating a preference for this more traditional nonprofit designation. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was recorded as 22% in 2022 and 17% in 2025, and President was 19% in 2022 and now, 9% in 2025. A new title, Managing Director, emerged in 2025, used by 16% of participants. Additionally, a small number of organizations are adopting combined titles such as President and CEO, reflecting growing variation in how leadership roles are defined and presented. Figure 2 Chief Staff Officer Titles (2022 vs 2025) (Numbers may not tally to 100% due to rounding) Source 2 PFC, from The Portage Group data Year Title FR Percentage (%) 2022 Executive Director 41 2022 CEO 22 2022 President 19 2022 Director 8 2025 Executive Director 52 2025 CEO 17 2025 Managing Director 16 2025 President 9 2025 President and CEO 5 Compensation differs from the Broader Nonprofit Sector Between 2022 and 2025, compensation in philanthropic foundations remained consistently higher than in the broader charitable sector, though the disparity has narrowed. In 2022, Chief Staff Officers in foundations earned 82% more than Executive Directors in the wider nonprofit sector (based on CharityVillage’s 2021 data). By 2025, this gap was 65% compared to their counterparts in CharityVillage’s 2024 study. At the management level, foundation staff also continued to earn more than peers in the charitable sector, though again with a modest benchmark change in the differential. In 2022, foundation managers earned 22% more than charitable sector senior executives and 51% more than senior managers. In 2025, those figures declined to 20% and 44%, respectively. Remote Work is Now Standard Remote work has become a sector norm, especially among non-management staff. In 2025, more than 90% of respondents across all staffing levels report working from home arrangements present in their employment. This trend began pre-pandemic but has clearly accelerated and stabilized. Foundations appear to be adopting flexible work arrangements as a lasting operational shift. Figure 3 2025 Hours of Work Policy Source 3 The Portage Group Bigger Assets, Bigger Teams, Bigger Pay The size of a foundation continues to be a key determinant of compensation. The mean total cash of Chief Staff Officers in organizations with over $50 million in assets is 43% more than that of those managing foundations with between $5 million and $50 million. Similarly, leaders in foundations that grant more than $2 million annually earn 55% more than those in smaller granting organizations. Foundations with more than five staff also pay their Chief Staff Officers 60% more, on average, than foundations with only one staff member. This pattern highlights how differences in organizational scale and leadership demands across the foundation sector shape compensation levels. Figure 4 2025 Mean Total Cash for Chief Staff Officers (by assets, grants, and staffing) Source 4 PFC, from The Portage Group Data Category Group Total Cash Compensation (CAD) Assets ≤$5M $170,170 Assets $5M–$50M $157,541 Assets >$50M $224,741 Grants ≤$1M $140,048 Grants $1M–$2M $162,746 Grants >$2M $216,558 Staff 1 Staff $149,091 Staff 2 Staff $145,565 Staff 3–5 Staff $190,691 Staff >5 Staff $237,966 Salary Benchmarks Show Increases—With Some Caution In 2025, average compensation for Chief Staff Officers is $194,500, a 7.7% increase from 2022. Less than one in five receives a bonus, averaging 8.7% of base salary. Management-level staff now earn nearly $137,000 (an 11.4% increase), while non-management staff average $81,855—a figure largely unchanged since 2022. As always, caution is warranted when interpreting averages across diverse roles and organizational sizes. Figure 5 2025 Cash Compensation by Level Source 5 The Portage Group PFC’s 2025 Canadian Philanthropic Foundations Compensation Survey & Benefits Report offers valuable data and findings useful for foundation boards, executives, and staff. Foundations are institutions of people, and behind every grant awarded, every strategy crafted, and every mission statement upheld are individuals whose daily work makes philanthropic purpose real. It provides critical insights that can support strong governance, strategic decision-making, and fairer and more effective human resource practices. This report’s findings are benchmarks illuminating how our sector recognizes and rewards its talent. As foundations continue to adapt to complex social, economic, and political realities, our capacity to respond with wisdom and integrity depends on the people we support. We encourage you to read the full report, share it with your teams and boards, and use it as a starting point for important conversations. Together, we can continue building a philanthropic sector that values its people as much as its programs, knowing that the two are inseparable. Share This Article Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
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