Effective August 1, The Rome Group will be requiring salary ranges on postings to the Nonprofit Career Board. Here’s why.

One of The Rome Group’s core beliefs is that data should inform insights and the data about wage disparity is clear and persistent.  One study from the Boston University School of Law suggests that in states that enacted salary history bans, employers posted salaries more often and wages for women and non-whites increased by 6.4% and 7.7%, respectively. Our own Landscape survey in 2020 showed that an increasing number of organizations are thinking about equity, with nearly 2/3rds indicating that they were focused on diversity in recruiting and hiring staff.

We decided to require salary ranges because we believe that greater transparency is paramount to more equitable hiring practices. In the private and nonprofit sectors, the practice of basing a salary offer on a candidate’s current rate of pay is an accepted norm. Often, too often, this practice impacts women and people of color, trapping them in a cycle of depressed compensation as each effort to advance in pay and responsibility is based on their previous success (or failure) to secure a fair wage.

The inclusion of a salary range establishes the floor, which is an important step toward equity. It doesn’t limit the amount that an employer can offer, nor does it eliminate the potential for negotiation. As a result, posting salary ranges alone will not achieve absolute equity, but it will get us closer by ensuring that job candidates and hiring managers enter the interview process with clearer expectations. We believe that time saved by employers, as well as job seekers, will be significant. Gone are the days of getting through weeks of interviews, only to learn that the salary is a barrier to a successful hire.

Organizations like AFP Global, AFP St. Louis, NTEP (Nonprofit technology organization), The Association of Children’s Museums, Association of Science and Technology Centers, The National Council on Public History, The American Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Association of Midwest Museums showed us the path to salary equity by establishing this new standard for job postings. The Rome Group is proud to join them.