亲爱的安妮：最近一段时间以来，我和我的一位朋友已经聊过好几次了。事情是这样的，他在一家大型慈善机构的董事会任职，这家机构目前正在招聘首席财务官，他鼓励我申请这个职位。我一直在一家技术公司担任首席财务官，也非常希望能有机会尝试一下新的领域；而且，我非常认同这家非营利性机构工作的价值。

    不过，我的唯一顾虑是，我有两个孩子在上大学，如果收入减少，我势必无力承担。我也一直在查找一些非营利性机构的招聘启事，希望能了解一下工资的情况，但这些启事上面通常都说得模棱两可，比如“薪酬视经验而定”等。合理的薪酬预期应该是多少？您能否给我一些建议？——试水者

    亲爱的试水者：你提出这个问题的时机恰到好处。据预测，未来几年内，美国170万家非营利性机构对管理人才的需求将大幅提高。比如，《慈善期刊》（Philanthropy Journal）近期公布的一份调查显示，到2016年，大约三分之二（67%）非营利性机构的高管将离开工作岗位。这很大程度上是因为婴儿潮一代退休所引起的自然减员。

    而且，受经济衰退冲击，慈善机构也迫切需要营利性企业经理人的管理技术。保罗•多夫表示：“产生这种需求，一方面是因为慈善机构希望少花钱多办事，大型非营利性机构正在努力实现公司化经营。所以它们要扩大招聘范围，从营利性企业中招募合适的人选。”保罗•多夫是顾问与调查公司Compensation Resources的执行董事，该公司的客户包括营利性机构与非营利性机构。

    而且，他补充道，这对于像你这样的求职者来说是一个好消息，因为这意味着“非营利性机构必须提供比以往更具竞争力的薪酬。”

    而且，不止于此，位于亚特兰大的非营利性机构求职网站Opportunity Knocks的总裁兼CEO凯伦•比弗认为，从企业管理层跳槽到非营利性机构，通常会带来职位的提升，尤其是对于财务经理来说。

    她说：“营利性企业的首席财务官加盟非营利性机构后又有可能担任CEO或COO。非营利性机构董事会也承认，具有丰富财务能力的高管能为机构创造大量价值。”

    事实确实如此。多夫介绍说，他的一位客户是位于美国西北部的一家大型基金会，“基金会的年收益仅有150万美元，举步维艰。之后，他们从一家营利性企业聘请了一位具有财务专长的管理人员担任新的执行董事，为此他们给出的薪酬是450,000美元。”

    结果：仅仅一年，这位执行董事“便将基金会的收益提高到1,000万美元，因此，他们并不后悔当初的决定。”多夫称，类似的成功案例传开后，其他非营利性机构也纷纷咬紧牙关，给出与营利性企业接近的薪酬来吸引人才。

    如此看来，形势确实一片光明。但与此同时，有一点必须要清楚，由于非营利性机构享受免税，因此在不激怒美国国内收入署（Internal Revenue Service）的前提下，它们能够支付给高管的工资也面临严格的限制。特别是从2008年开始，IRS规定了新的申报要求，提高了对“员工薪酬过高”的非营利性机构的处罚，最高可以取消该机构的免税资格。

    多夫表示：“尽管营利性企业也受到《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》【（Sarbanes-Oxley），该法案是美国立法机构根据安然有限公司、世界通讯公司等财务欺诈事件破产暴露出来的公司和证券监管问题所立的监管法规——译注】和其他类似法律的限制，但营利性企业董事会在确定高管薪酬方面，比非营利性机构拥有更大的余地。如果IRS认定非营利性机构高管的工资过高，不仅机构本身，董事会成员个人也将面临处罚。”

    了解了上述信息之后，在正式协商薪酬时，你的合理预期应该是多少呢？想从公司跳槽到非营利性机构的人可以查看一下Opportunity Knocks网站提供的《2011/2012年美国非营利性机构工资与福利报告》（The 2011/2012 National Nonprofit Wage & Benefits Report）。该网站对2,249家非营利性机构进行了调查，之后形成了这份96页的报告，列出了13个不同职位的薪酬信息。

    其中有几条调查结果令人鼓舞：今年，42%的非营利性机构计划全面提高薪酬，平均薪酬涨幅将达到4.5%，而2010年的薪酬涨幅为3.3%。而且与营利性企业一样，薪酬冻结比例大幅降低：今年仅有18%的非营利性机构表示将冻结工资，而去年这一比例高达53%。

    该报告也根据地理位置和机构规模，对目前非营利性机构首席财务官的薪酬进行了分析。分析结果显示，慈善机构的规模越大，所在地的人口越多，首席财务官的薪酬便越高。

    所以，在决定适合自己的薪酬时，需要同时考虑该机构的规模，其所在的社区以及当地的就业市场。

    例如，在纽约、洛杉矶或芝加哥等大城市，生活成本较高，而且对管理人才的争夺也更为激烈，非营利性机构CFO的平均工资为113,546美元；但是，部分年收益为1，000万美元或更高的非营利性机构，也可能为其财务负责人提供236,000美元薪酬。与此形成对比的是，在印第安纳波利斯或阿布奎基等相对较小的城市，年收益100万美元的慈善机构其CFO的平均薪酬仅为68,000美元。

    不论薪酬水平如何，与营利性企业相比，非营利性机构能为高管提供的额外津贴较少，但它们可以通过其他方式对高管进行补偿，而这些方式很难量化。凯伦•比弗指出：“非营利性机构的医疗福利通常都非常优渥，不过类似奖金或递延酬劳等额外福利就不要指望了。”

    她补充道：“另一方面，非营利性机构能够使员工实现工作生活的平衡，比如灵活的工作时间等，这是众所周知的。而且与你目前的工作相比，非营利性机构的工作可能更有意义。你不再是帮着多生产一个小玩意儿，而是要多清理数英里的河道，或多教10个孩子学会阅读。许多人认为这种工作上的满足感足以弥补工资上的缺口。”

    反馈： 你是否会考虑在非营利性机构工作？如果你目前正在一家非营利性机构工作，你会把它推荐给朋友嘛？原因是什么？欢迎评论。

    （翻译 刘进龙）

    Dear Annie: I've been having some conversations lately with a friend who is on the board of a large charity that is currently seeking a new chief of finance, and he is encouraging me to apply for the job. I've been in the same role as chief financial officer at a technology company for some time now, and I'd welcome the chance to try something new, especially since I believe strongly in the value of the work this nonprofit is doing.

    My only reservation is that I have two kids in college and can't afford a cut in pay right now. I've been looking at nonprofit job boards to get an idea of salary ranges, but the postings usually say something vague like "salary commensurate with experience." Can you give me an idea of what kind of compensation it would be reasonable to expect? — Testing the Waters

    Dear TW: You've picked an interesting moment to ask. Demand for management talent at the nation's 1.7 million nonprofits is expected to accelerate over the next few years. Consider: Thanks largely to attrition brought on by a wave of Baby Boomer retirements, about two-thirds (67%) of nonprofit executives plan to leave their jobs by 2016, according to survey just published in Philanthropy Journal.

    Moreover, recession-battered charities need the skills that for-profit managers can bring. "Partly because they're trying to do more with less, the larger nonprofits are making serious efforts to operate more like businesses," observes Paul Dorf, managing director at Compensation Resources, a consulting and research firm with both for-profit and nonprofit clients. "So they're widening their recruiting and going after candidates from for-profit companies."

    That's good news for folks like you, he adds, since it means "they have to offer more competitive pay than in the past."

    And that's not all. Karen Beavor, president and CEO of Atlanta-based nonprofit job site Opportunity Knocks, says that moving from corporate management to the nonprofit world often entails a step up in rank, especially for financial managers.

    "A chief financial officer at a for-profit company may well be able to step into the CEO or COO role at a nonprofit," she says. "Nonprofit boards recognize that executives with strong financial skills bring a lot of value."

    Indeed. Dorf says that one client of his, a large foundation in the Northeast, was "limping along with about $1.5 million in annual revenues," he says. "They brought in a new executive director with for-profit financial expertise, and they had to pay him a $450,000 salary in order to get him."

    The result: In just one year, this executive "boosted the foundation's revenues to $10 million, so they have no regrets." Success stories like that get around, Dorf adds, and make other nonprofits more willing to bite the bullet and offer compensation that's close to what a for-profit company might pay.

    Great, but at the same time, it's crucial to understand that, because they are tax-exempt organizations, nonprofits face serious constraints on what they can pay executives without incurring the wrath of the Internal Revenue Service. Particularly since 2008, when the IRS added new reporting requirements, the penalties for "overpaying" people are severe -- up to and including the loss of an organization's tax-exempt status.

    "Even with Sarbanes-Oxley and similar laws in place, boards of directors at for-profit companies have far greater leeway in executive pay decisions than nonprofits do," says Dorf. "And if the IRS decides nonprofit executives are overpaid, not only the organization but board members personally are liable for penalties."

    So with all that in mind, what can you reasonably expect if and when you sit down to negotiate compensation? Anyone contemplating a move from a corporate job to a nonprofit position might want to take a look at "The 2011/2012 National Nonprofit Wage & Benefits Report," available through Opportunity Knocks' web site. Based on a poll of 2,249 nonprofits, the 96-page study gives pay information for 13 separate job categories.

    A couple of encouraging findings: 42% of nonprofits plan to raise salaries across the board this year, with pay hikes averaging 4.5% versus 3.3% in 2010. As in the for-profit world, pay freezes are going away: 18% of nonprofits will freeze salaries this year, a big drop from 53% last year.

    The study includes an analysis of what chief finance officers at nonprofits make now, broken down by geographical location and size of organization. The bigger the charity, and the more populous its hometown, the more it is likely to pay.

    So determining what's reasonable to shoot for will require you to take into account both the size of the organization and the surrounding community and job market.

    For instance, in a city like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, where the cost of living is high and competition for management talent is especially fierce, the average nonprofit CFO salary is $113,546, although a large nonprofit with $10 million or more in annual revenues might pay its finance chief as much as $236,000. By contrast, the study says, the CFO role at a $1 million charity in a relatively small city like Indianapolis or Albuquerque pays, on average, about $68,000.

    Regardless of salary levels, nonprofits in general offer fewer executive perks than for-profit companies but may compensate you in other ways that are harder to quantify. "Medical benefits at nonprofits overall are good, but you're unlikely to get extras like bonuses or deferred compensation," notes Karen Beavor.

    "On the other hand, nonprofits are known for great work-life balance perks, like flexible hours," she adds. "And the work may be more meaningful to you than what you're doing now. Instead of helping to turn out one more widget, you'd be cleaning up another few miles of river or teaching 10 more kids how to read. Many people find that the satisfaction they get from that makes up for the shortfall in pay."

    Talkback: Would you consider taking a job at a nonprofit? If you work for one now, would you recommend it? Why or why not? Leave a comment below.