Sluggish wage growth has been a hot topic in recent months. While top-level salaries have been largely protected from this trend, ASAE’s new Association Compensation and Benefits Study, 2018-2019 Edition, suggests that association executives are facing flattening compensation.

The 2018 median for CEO base salary was less than 1 percent higher than that reported in the 2016-2017 edition, diverging from a pattern of notable growth in prior years. Median base salaries for some other top executive positions, however, did increase.

The median base salary for CEOs increased between 2012 and 2014—from $150,000 to $175,000—and again between 2014 and 2016—from $175,000 to $200,000. This made for a 16.7 percent increase in base salary in 2014 and a 14.3 percent increase in 2016. By contrast, the 2018 study participants reported a median base salary of $201,800, an increase of only 0.9 percent over two years ago.

Trade associations typically offer higher median salaries than other types of organizations tracked in the report, including professional associations, association foundations, federations of associations, and other nonprofits. When broken down by association type, only trade association CEOs had a significantly higher median base salary in 2018, though the increase was not as much as in previous years. The median CEO base salary at trade associations was $152,000 in 2012, $181,562 in 2014, and $212,088 in 2016. However, the 2018 median rose only about $6,000, to $218,000.

Professional association CEO salary trends followed similar patterns. The professional association median CEO base salary rose from $148,000 in 2012 to $169,686 in 2014 to $193,000 in 2016. But the 2018 median was essentially unchanged, at $192,984.

Context is important to prevent reading too much into this trend. The respondent pool is different each time data is collected, so changes in median salary for each respondent group are not necessarily connected to salary changes—or lack thereof—at individual organizations.

Better Raises for Non-CEOs

This trend was not consistent across all reported salaries. Median base salaries for some of the most frequently reported non-CEO executive positions rose in 2018:

• The median base salary for strategic initiatives executives rose from $151,000 in 2016 to $170,000 in 2018 (up 12.6 percent).
• The top publications position median base salary rose slightly from $100,000 in 2016 to $105,000 in 2018 (up 5 percent).
• The top government lobbying position median base salary rose sharply from $115,500 to $141,250 (up 22.3 percent).

The data reported in the Association Compensation and Benefits Study, 2018-2019 Edition, provide a useful snapshot of the association salary and benefits landscape. This data can be used in salary negotiations, to advocate for competitive compensation for your staff, and to promote equity and transparency in the hiring process.

Salaries inevitably change. Studying data from the industry ensures that you know where your organization stands in comparison to others.