Should executives working in charity be paid more, to keep pace with the market? Actually, they are already paid in line with the market – the capitalistic human resource market.

The significant gap between the charity and the commercial sectors’ pay scales is due to two factors: a heart factor reflecting the noble spirit of altruism, and a head factor reflecting the environmental aspects of a slower pace and less demanding expectations.

The call to improve accountability and professionalism in the charity sector should see the raising of charity pay to narrow the head gap but hopefully leave the heart factor intact.