Across Scotland’s third sector, one topic keeps surfacing in boardrooms and leadership conversations — salary. Not in an abstract way. Not as a philosophical debate. But as a very real, practical tension: Can we still attract the talent we need at the salaries we’re offering? As specialist recruiters working exclusively in Scotland’s third sector since 2007, we are seeing clear shifts in candidate expectations, particularly at senior and specialist levels. The question is no longer whether salary matters. The simple answer is it does. The question is whether organisations are adapting quickly enough. The Market Has Moved — Quietly but Significantly Over the past three years, several structural shifts have reshaped the recruitment landscape: • Inflationary pressure and cost of living increases • Public sectors pay adjustments • Greater salary transparency • Hybrid working normalisation • Increased cross-sector mobility Senior candidates are no longer comparing roles solely within the third sector. They are benchmarking against public bodies, housing associations, social enterprises, and in some cases private sector opportunities offering significantly higher packages. We are increasingly hearing: “I love the mission — but I can’t justify the pay drop.” That’s not a lack of commitment. It’s reality. The Risk of Standing Still Many charities are understandably cautious. Funding pressures are real. Grant income is uncertain. Reserves must be protected. However, what we are beginning to observe is a widening gap between the level of experience organisations expect and the salary they are prepared to offer. When expectations remain high but remuneration does not reflect market movement, three things tend to happen: 1. Shortlists shrink 2. Search timelines extend 3. Compromises are made Sometimes those compromises are manageable. Sometimes they are costly. A misaligned appointment at senior level can impact strategy, culture, fundraising performance and team stability. The financial saving on salary can quickly be outweighed by the operational cost of underperformance or turnover. Competing Beyond Salary The third sector cannot and should not try to compete purely on pay. But it must compete intelligently. Where we see organisations succeeding, they are clear on their full value proposition: • Flexible and genuinely autonomous roles • Strong governance and supportive boards • Clarity of strategy • Visible impact • Professional development opportunities • Transparent leadership culture High-calibre candidates are not solely motivated by salary. But they are motivated by fairness, transparency and respect for their level of responsibility. Increasingly, candidates are asking: • Is the salary benchmarked? • Has this been reviewed recently? • Is there progression built in? • Does the board understand market rates? These are sophisticated questions and boards must be ready to answer them. When Paying More Is the Strategic Decision There are moments when increasing salary is not a cost — it is a strategic investment. This is particularly true when: • The role is pivotal to income generation • The organisation is entering a period of change • Governance stability needs strengthening • Services are expanding • Reputational recovery is required We have worked with several Scottish charities who initially hesitated on salary, adjusted their approach, and ultimately secured transformational leaders who delivered measurable growth. The key is alignment between ambition and resource. If the strategic expectation is growth, modernisation or cultural reset — the salary must reflect the capability required to deliver it. The “Passion Discount” Is Eroding Historically, the third sector relied — sometimes unintentionally — on what could be described as a “passion discount”. The assumption that commitment to cause would offset lower pay. That dynamic is shifting. Today’s senior leaders are highly skilled professionals. Many have mortgages, families, and competing opportunities. Passion remains essential but it is no longer a substitute for competitive reward. The organisations that recognise this are navigating recruitment with far greater confidence. What Boards Should Be Asking Themselves Rather than asking, “Can we afford to increase the salary?” the more strategic question might be “Can we afford not to?”. Boards should be considering questions like: • When was this role last benchmarked? • Has the scope increased without pay review? • Are we clear on the risk of an underpowered appointment? • What message does our salary signal to the market? Sometimes the issue isn’t even the base salary, it’s the lack of clarity, flexibility or progression. Small structural adjustments can make a significant difference to candidates and employees. A Realistic Outlook for 2026 We do not foresee dramatic, sector-wide salary inflation. But we do anticipate continued pressure at: • Senior leadership level • Specialist fundraising roles • Finance and governance positions • Volunteer and operations leadership posts Organisations that are proactive, transparent and market-aware will continue to attract strong candidates. Those that rely solely on mission appeal may find recruitment increasingly challenging. At BTA, we believe salary conversations should be honest, data-informed and strategic — not reactive. If your organisation is planning senior recruitment this year and would value a confidential discussion about market positioning, we would be pleased to share insight from across the sector. The right appointment is always more valuable than the cheapest one.

Our BTA Rewards Review 2025 targeted specifically for small and medium-sized Scottish non-profit organisations notes that perhaps unsurprisingly, all respondents used emails and in-person conversations as their preferred communication tools. Just over a third used notice boards (36.4%) and workplace forums (36.4%), while staff intranets and town hall meetings appear uncommon in the sample. The scores participants gave to the effectiveness of their respective workplace communications ranged from 2 to 4, with an average of 3.3. Notably, no respondent gave their organisation the lowest (1) and highest (5) possible rating. The Opportunities Review your management activities and ask whether your appraisals and in-person informal conversations are effective or whether other activities like focus groups, and pulse surveys may support your communications more effectively. Open and transparent communications can extend employee voice beyond work-related topics. With a focus on Non-harassment policy since the Worker Protection Act 2023 introduced on 26 October 2024, organisations should be reviewing their risk assessments, and whether they have an up-to-date harassment policy in place. Do you provide workplace harassment prevention training and do you conduct a workplace harassment risk assessment? Importantly, do you feel that your employees feel comfortable discussing these issues with you? Want to find out more about Pay, Benefits, Culture, and Communications? Download the BTA Reward Review 2025, press here.

Thinking about the various outcomes of organisational culture, almost all of our respondents felt that culture positively impacts employee attitudes and 9 in 10 respondents felt their culture positively influenced staff retention and their brand image. Culture was seen as a driver of a sense of purpose and direction for 81.8% of respondents. Lastly, 72.7% of respondents felt their organisational culture has a positive impact on income generation through sources such as fundraising and grants. Want to find out more about Pay, Benefits, Culture, and Communications? Download the BTA Reward Review 2025, press here.

Based on our recent BTA Rewards Review of small and medium-sized Scottish non-profit organisations, pay awards in 2024-2025 ranged between 2.5% - 7%. The average 4.4% pay award appeared driven largely by increases in the Real Living Wage. The planned pay awards of our respondents were in the region of 2% - 5%, with an expected average of 3.25%. This is largely in line with the CIPD’s recent Labour Market Outlook which expects a median 2025 pay award of 3%, down from a pre-budget expectation of 3.5%. Inflation remains the key driver of pay awards in our sample. The Bank of England Monetary Policy Report suggests that ‘Inflation is following a bumpy path. It will increase temporarily in 2025, and likely to rise to 3.7% over the first half of the year, before falling back to the 2% target.’ The Bank continues to caveat this by stating that there may be ‘global shocks’ such as ‘global tariffs or developments in the Middle East’ that may affect their projections. There is more to pay determination though, with almost half of our respondents considering individual performance, competencies, and market rates when determining their pay awards. Over half of respondents operate no pay structure/framework and of those who do, only 60% are transparent. Want to find out more about Pay, Benefits, Culture, and Communications? Download the BTA Reward Review 2025: Press here

Date: Friday 27th March Time: 9:30am - 3:30pm Location: Jubilee House, Stirling Cost: £60 (Half Day) | £95 (Full Day) (Excluding VAT) Lunch available for an additional £7 per person Overview Charities are facing unprecedented pressures on their resources as they try and navigate through the current economic turmoil. With emerging public sector cuts, increased demand placed on Trust and Foundations and public giving being squeezed the prospects, for many, are far from optimistic. But there are things to consider that may help Leaders through. This Leadership Seminar will provide you with appropriate insight, knowledge and strategies that will help you in the months ahead. Aimed at Chief Executives, Directors, and Senior Managers, the seminar will explore practical solutions that include helping you: a) understand the impacts of changes to NIC and other national government policies. b) sharpen up your fundraising Case for Support and why this matters to funders. c) explore the world of public sector contracting, learning what it takes to be successful in bidding for work. d) understand how reshaping your organisation could work to your advantage. What You Will Learn By attending this seminar, you will: • Gain a deeper understanding of the financial pressures facing the charity sector today, including the impact of National Insurance Contributions (NIC) increases. • Learn strategies to improve your fundraising efforts, particularly in securing trust and foundation funding. • Discover effective ways to approach public sector contracting and how to enhance your bidding prospects. • Explore methods to shape your organisation to be resilient, thus reducing your risks and exposures leading you towards financial sustainability. • Understand how to build your Fundraising Case for Support which will connect with funders, donors and philanthropic organisations. • Appreciate what it is like for your peers and similar organisations that are faced with challenges similar to you. Session Schedule Morning Sessions (before lunch) 1. Maximising Fundraising from Trusts Speaker: Deanna Wolf An overview of how to approach trusts for funding, including strategies for improving applications and building long-term relationships. 2. Creating a Case for Support Speaker: Shona Blakely Learn how to create a compelling narrative that clearly demonstrates your organisation’s value and impact to potential funders. Afternoon Sessions (after lunch) 3. Better Bidding for Public Sector Contracts Speaker: Gill Joy, Managing Director of Intend A guide to effectively bidding for public sector contracts and securing essential funding opportunities. 4. Organisational Design for Financial Resilience Speaker: Andrew Penker Explore practical steps to design a more efficient and resilient organisation, ensuring your charity remains sustainable in tough financial times. Why Attend? This is an opportunity for you to learn from our experts on how their advice and recommendations can help you navigate these financially challenging times. They will challenge you to think about (a) what you can do differently and (b) why embracing alternative strategies just may make the difference. The session will also give you the opportunity to mix with peers, many of whom will share your own concerns and issues. Who Should Attend? This session is aimed at those that have strategic responsibility for the income generation activity of their charity, and for ensuring its long term financial sustainability. You will be a Chief Executive, Director or Senior Managers. We also encourage charity Chairs to consider attending too. Book Your Place Spaces are limited, so don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from leading experts. Register now to secure your place at this informative and practical seminar.

As we enter our 18th year of delivering expert consultancy, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the journey that has brought us here and the exciting road ahead. For nearly two decades, we’ve been proud to partner with charities, providing tailored solutions, impactful strategies, and unwavering support to help them thrive in an ever-changing landscape. Today, we’re thrilled to unveil a refreshed look at how we present that support—our newly updated consultancy brochure. We invite you to take a look at our new brochure and discover how we can help your charity thrive. Whether you’re seeking strategic direction, fundraising expertise, or governance support, our team is here to provide the tools and guidance you need. Thank you for being part of our journey over the past 18 years. We look forward to continuing to support charities in creating lasting impact for years to come.

The Government’s new Employment Rights Bill termed ‘Labour’s New Deal for Working People,’ will ‘ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights’ but should non-profits, social impact, and charity organisations be worried? What should you prepare for? The headline changes are likely to include: • Ban zero-hour contracts: Legislation will ensure workers have a right to contract reflecting the number of hours they regularly work, with reasonable notice of any change in shift patterns. • End Fire and Rehire or Fire and Replace: the government will reform the law to provide effective remedies and replace the previous statutory code. • Provide day-one rights on parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal for all workers, although employers will be able to operate probationary periods while they assess new hires. • Remove the lower earnings limit on Statutory Sick Pay so it is available to all workers, and get rid of the three-day waiting period. • Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers, with “employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable.” • Make it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work, “except in specific circumstances.” • Establish a new Single Enforcement Body, the Fair Work Agency, to monitor the enforcement of workplace rights. • Set up a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector. If this works, it will assess whether such agreements could work in other sectors. • Reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to establish national terms and conditions, career progression and pay rates for teachers and other school staff. • Remove “unnecessary restrictions” on trade union activity, including the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, to ensure industrial relations are based around “good faith negotiation and bargaining.” • Simplify the process of statutory recognition to ensure workers have a reasonable right to access a union in their place of work. Impact Peripheral workers will gain more rights to stable employment, and permanent employees will benefit from more flexibility as to how and where they work. This has implications for the training of Managers and Team Leader/Supervisors, who will have to manage probationary periods much more effectively, measuring performance and potential within reasonable but short time periods. Pay differentials will need to be more clearly defined to ensure that this additional management requirement is recognised and rewarded otherwise Supervisory roles in other sectors will become more attractive. Assessing whether roles can operate remotely will need to be clearly evaluated and assessed to ensure compliance, and a ‘reasonable’ approach to flexible working requests will need to be defined and put into practice effectively by Managers and Supervisors. Reward Survey: Join other organisations in the non-profit and social impact sector and complete the BTA Reward Survey to share your opinion on how legislative changes will impact the pay differentials and roles within your organisation, and discover what other organisations are either doing or planning to do in the future in terms of their future pay awards, rates of pay, and other relevant aspects of employment. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BTARewards2024

Over the last 3 years, I have been conducting numerous pay and benefits benchmarking exercises as part of my role as an HR Associate with BTA (Bruce Tait Associates), the leading Recruitment and Consultancy for the non-profit and social impact sector. I have noticed that increasingly organisations are concerning themselves with their benefits in addition to their levels of pay. This is significant as areas such as flexible working have become more prominent in the post-pandemic work environment. Having a structure helps organisations consider the benefits they may wish to offer, and then track their value to the organisation in terms of how they attract, engage, and retain their workers. Pay and Benefits: In the most recent BTA Rewards Scoping survey (August 2024), the top 2 key areas of interest for respondent organisations were: 1. Pay rate (current and planned increases (76.7%) 2. Benefits (66.7%) It is noteworthy that Work-life blend was of interest to 1 in 3 organisations (36.7%). Benefits can be broken down into the following elements, with some illustrative examples: Work Hours - flexible working, locations Financial Pension - Independent financial advice, rewards platform Health - Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Health Cash Plan (HCP), Occupational health Leave Annual -Buy &/or Sell, Family friendly Learning & Development Induction - Access to courses, conferences, networking Pensions are often cited as the most important financial benefit given that employers must automatically enrol their workers into a pension scheme and make contributions to their pension if they're eligible for automatic enrolment. The levels of contribution can, however, vary significantly and employers should identify the importance of the contribution levels for workers based on the stage of their career rather than just offering a pension. Benchmarking: Most organisations will confine their benchmarking activities to focus on their direct competitors, which may be of a similar size and shape, with similar levels of affordability, and in the same sector. This is helpful but have you ever stopped to ask your team members which organisations they may leave your organisation to work for, and in which sector they may be most attracted to work within in the future? Having an awareness of these indirect competitors may be helpful when considering the values your workers place on the benefits you provide. Benchmarking using an external party can provide objectivity and ensure the rewards package offered to your workers is optimised and affordable. Reward Survey: Join other organisations in the non-profit and social impact sector and complete the BTA Reward Survey to share your opinion on the benefits you are currently offering, and discover what other organisations are either doing or planning to do in the future with the level and range of their benefits as they seek to attract, and retain their team members. Link to Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BTARewards2024