Charity CEO salary · 2026
What a charity chief executive earns, by the size of the charity
A charity CEO earns a median salary of £59,850 on ACEVO’s Pay and Equalities Survey 2025, from 703 chief executives. Size decides most of it. ACEVO puts the median at £51,250 for charities with income under £1m and £105,780 for those over £15m. At the largest 100 charities, Charity Finance’s 2025 survey found a median of £192,000.
Trustees set the pay, and the accounts make the top of it public. If the seat is empty, the interim, part-time and fractional routes are priced by the day. When you hire a charity CEO through us, permanent or flexible, we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
How a brief runswhat we undertake
- 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
- 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
- 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
- 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
- 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief
Shortlist3–5
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a charity CEO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with Charity CEO candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the days a week
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Live roles · last 3 months
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Live chief executive roles
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a Charity CEO brief and a shortlist of three to five.
01/ the role
What a charity chief executive does, and what sets the pay
A charity chief executive is the most senior member of staff. NCVO’s guidance for boards describes the role plainly: the chief executive reports to the board, manages the staff team and leads the organisation day to day. The board holds the chief executive to account, and the chair usually line manages the role.
Income sets the salary more than anything else. A chief executive of a local charity with a handful of staff and one running a national organisation share a title, not a job. ACEVO’s figures show the spread: a median of £37,309 for charities with income of £50k–£149,999k, against £105,780 for charities over £15m. Boards should also weigh the complexity of the role: regulated services, a trading arm, international work or a turnaround each ask more of a chief executive.
ACEVO’s median fell slightly in 2025, to £59,850. ACEVO says this reflects a larger proportion of small charities in the sample, not a cut in pay. It is a survey of the chief executives who responded, not the whole sector, so read it as a benchmark. NCVO’s guidance on setting salaries names the ACEVO survey as the sector’s main source for CEO pay, and advises using more than one source.
02/ scope
How to hire a charity CEO
1. Scope the seat
Write down the income, the staff team, the services, the funding mix and the change the board wants. A chief executive for a steady local service and one for a merger or a funding crisis are different hires with different pay. Our guide to charity CEO recruitment covers the search itself.
2. Benchmark the salary
Start with ACEVO’s median for your income band, then check what comparable charities disclose. The Charity Commission’s register of charities publishes each charity’s finances, and charities’ accounts show how many staff are paid £60,000 or more. NCVO’s salary guidance balances three things: affordability, internal fairness and external competitiveness.
3. Choose the route
A permanent chief executive suits a charity that needs a leader for the long term. If the seat is empty and the board needs someone full-time for a fixed period, hire an interim CEO. If a small charity needs senior leadership for part of the week, hire a fractional CEO. For live roles in the sector, see charity CEO jobs.
4. Check before the offer
For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start. Chief executive roles at charities in England and Wales also fall under the Charity Commission’s automatic disqualification rules, so check eligibility before you appoint. Take references yourself.
What we do on a charity CEO brief
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary chief executives, and non-executive directors and trustees for charity boards. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
03/ rates by stage
Charity CEO salary by charity income
Median chief executive salaries from ACEVO’s Pay and Equalities Survey and Charity Finance’s Charity Chief Executives Survey. Each figure is the publisher’s own, named in the table. ACEVO warns that its smallest bands rest on small samples.
04/ economics
Interim or part-time: covering the chief executive seat
When a chief executive leaves, many boards need cover before a permanent appointment. The Institute of Interim Management’s 2026 survey puts the average third-sector interim day rate at £728. That is an average across all interim assignments in the sector, not a chief executive rate, but it shows the order of cost.
A day rate does not compare one for one with a salary. An employee also costs employer’s National Insurance and pension contributions; a contractor funds their own, along with holidays and unsold days. Tax status is set by how the engagement runs in practice, not by its label. Under the off-payroll working rules (IR35), a medium or large client makes the status determination; a small client outside the public sector leaves it to the worker’s own company. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
For a full-time leader on a fixed term, see interim CEO jobs. For chief executive pay outside the sector, see our CEO salary page.
05/ vetting
How we vet charity CEOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify Charity CEO tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING - 02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING - 03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY - 04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5
06/ charity chief executive salary
Charity chief executive salary: how pay moves with income
A charity chief executive salary tracks the charity’s income. ACEVO’s September 2026 briefing puts the 2025 median at £51,250 for charities with income under £1m, up from £48,000 in 2023 and £50,000 in 2024. For the largest charities in its survey, those over £15m, the median was £105,780 in 2025, down from £129,000 in 2023. ACEVO says the gap has narrowed partly because pay at the top end has fallen.
Within the small-charity group the spread is wide. ACEVO’s 2025 medians run from £37,309 for income of £50k–£149,999k to £56,869 for £500k–£999,999k. ACEVO cautions that “the very small sample sizes here can be misleading”, so treat a single band as a guide, not a rate.
At the top of the sector the numbers change. Civil Society reports that Charity Finance’s Charity Chief Executives Survey 2025 found a median of £192,000 for chief executives at the UK’s largest 100 charities, up from £175,000 in the previous survey. For the career route into these roles, see how to become a charity CEO.
07/ how charity ceo pay is set
How charity CEO pay is set: trustees, disclosure and scrutiny
The trustees set it. NCVO’s guidance for boards lists “How will the board decide how much the chief executive is paid?” among the questions a board and chief executive should settle together. The Charity Governance Code sets out principles of good governance, but compliance with it “is not a regulatory requirement”.
The accounts make pay public. Under Charities SORP 2026, every charity preparing accruals accounts must disclose the number of employees whose benefits fell in each £10,000 band from £60,000 upwards, and the total pay of its trustees and key management personnel. Naming the chief executive’s own pay is encouraged, not required. In England and Wales, the annual return also asks whether anyone received total employment benefits of £60,000 or more, and the total benefits of the highest paid employee.
The Charity Commission publishes charities’ reports and accounts on its website, so donors, funders and journalists can read them. That scrutiny is part of the seat. Boards that set chief executive pay should be able to explain it in public. For the trustees who make that decision, see non-executive director recruitment.
08/ questions
Charity CEO salary FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a charity CEO.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Bring the brief. We architect the team.
A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
