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Student Views: Charity isn't free

Orli West asks - Is it fair to argue that the charity workers who do so much for our community should work for nothing?

April 10, 2018 16:21
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2 min read

Recently, I stumbled upon an article written by the JC in 2014 entitled “Revealed: who gets what among charity movers and shakers.” It detailed how much 43 Jewish charities highest paid employee earnt, and was very interesting to read. The salaries range from under £60,000 at Ort UK and British Emunah Funds to £180,000 for the Chief Rabbinate Trust and the CST. It was over our Pesach Seder that this article sparked an even more interesting conversation; should charity employees be paid, and if so, how much is too much?

We had the pleasure of having the CEO of one of the UK’s biggest Jewish charities, who also happens to be one of my closest family friends, at our Seder this year, who graciously provided me with an impromptu interview on the subject.

The counterbalance to this conversation was my Nana, who believes that every penny earnt by a charity should go to its recipients. From a philosophical perspective, a charity should be raising as much money as possible for those it is helping. Nevertheless, from a practical perspective, however well-intentioned people who work for charities are, they still need to put food on the tables of their own families. 

Also as chair of Jewish Leadership Council, Mick Davis noted "The trustees believe in attracting first-class talent to work for the organisation… we will pay appropriate salaries to attract and retain the best talent."