I doubt the editors at The Chronicle Of Philanthropy thought the decision to publish an op-ed by Vincent Robinson trying to convince readers that including salary figures was a bad thing, especially for diversity, would garner a tidal wave of pushback but that’s exactly what happened.
On July 12, 2021 they published a letter to the editor from Mike Geiger, President and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, where he not only vigorously disagrees with Robinson’s premise on salary transparency. Speaking on behalf of his service organization, Geiger makes it clear where the group stands on this issue.
Not disclosing salary ranges contradicts our field’s emphasis on transparency and accountability, which happens to be a key tenet of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethics. After looking closely at this issue over the last few years, our organization made the decision to require charities using our job site to include salary ranges in their employment postings.
The Chronicle Of Philanthropy also decided to publish an article by one of their editors, Drew Lindsay, that attempts to provide a two sides to every coin perspective where he highlights efforts from those such as Vu Lee.
In addition to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the article highlights similar decisions to require salary details from NTEN and the Association of Midwest Museums.
Along with the article I published on this topic and in response to Robinson’s points, my colleague Joe Patti weighed in on the topic at his blog, Butts In The Seats, and ArtsHacker.