What to offer candidates instead of higher pay

If your charity has been tightening its belt recently, then you’re not alone. The knock-on effect of the pandemic, cost of living crisis, National Insurance increases and political unrest has created a perfect storm for the non-profit sector. So, when it comes to recruitment, this could leave you in a position where you can’t quite offer the salaries you’d ideally like. So what can you do instead to make sure you secure the top talent your charity desperately needs? Here we explore what to offer candidates instead of higher pay.

Benchmark salaries

The first thing to do is to be clear on what a fair salary looks like for your role. If you’re not sure, you can use our salary checker to explore ranges for specific roles. Or you can download the CharityJob Salary Report 2025 to learn more about trends across different categories, types and levels of role. While you might not be able to push an offer as high as you’d like, you need to check the salary is fair for the level and scope of the role. Having knowledge of the range also means you’ll be prepared when it comes to any negotiation.

If you find yourself falling far short of this range, then it might be time to reconsider the role. Could you reduce the level of seniority and scope of responsibilities to get a better match with the salary available?

If you’re satisfied your salary is fair, but a little on the low side, then here are some ideas for what to offer candidates instead of higher pay.

Make the role remote

Remote roles have exploded in popularity in the last few years, after people got a taste of the flexibility these types of jobs offer during the pandemic. And while they did exist in the sector prior to 2020, the number has grown exponentially in the last few years. The CharityJob Salary Report 2025 found that 12% of all roles posted on our site are now remote, and, unsurprisingly, these are the most popular, getting seven times more clicks on the ‘Apply’ button than on-site roles.

Not only can the flexibility of permanently working from home be a game changer for candidates, it’s also the extra time in their day and the automatic pay increase from not commuting, buying lunch or organising childcare. It means not having to relocate for their dream job for the cause they feel most passionately about. It also makes the role accessible to a much wider range of candidates. This all adds value in a way that salary alone can’t.

Hybrid roles are also gaining popularity, and now make up 50% of the roles posted on our site, getting four times more clicks on ‘Apply’ than on-site roles. So, if you definitely need some office presence and can’t make a role completely remote, then making it hybrid can help too. But the one key thing you can do to boost a job offer is to make it remote—and it won’t cost you a penny.

Offer different types of flexible working

Alongside remote and hybrid roles, it’s important to look at different types of flexible working, as research has shown that 66% of candidates would forgo a pay rise in return for flexible working hours. This flexibility is what attracts many to the charity sector and options to consider include:

• compressed hours,
• job shares,
• flexible start and finish times,
• term-time only roles.

So if you’re open to different types of flexible working, then this is another free, or very low cost, way to boost your offer for candidates.

Create a positive work environment

A positive work environment isn’t something you can just conjure up overnight and nor is it something that happens by accident, but investing in this in the long-term, and having strong organisational values, will give you another powerful bargaining tool. From our survey, 29% of candidates who were looking for a new job were doing so because of a poor work culture, so you’ll find many are more than happy to sacrifice a bit of extra pay for a secure, inclusive workplace where they feel their ideas and contributions are valued. So if you can make a name for your charity as having a positive work culture, then you’ll be onto a winner.

Have clear training and career development plans

Having the means and support to progress their careers, can also be a very strong incentive for candidates. And this doesn’t have to involve a lot of time or budget on your part. There are many free and low cost training courses, mentoring schemes and networking opportunities that are available to charities (check out our sister site CharityConnect as a starting point). Even just encouraging your employees to take the time and space away from a busy workload to consider their career growth can be as appealing as a pay increase for some. So creating and communicating a clear career development strategy will be another big plus for candidates.

Evaluate your workplace perks and benefits

If you still don’t know what to offer candidates instead of higher pay, it might be a good time to take stock of your workplace perks and benefits. Do they match your employees’ needs? Our recent research showed that 68% of our applicants are women, who are more likely to have caring responsibilities. This means benefits such as paid carers’/dependents’ leave will appeal to them. Wellbeing perks are particularly attractive to younger workers, so you could consider paid mental health days, mindfulness programmes, a subsidised gym membership or employee assistance scheme.

To be fair to all employees, you could increase paid time off across the board and look at offering initiatives such as buying and selling holiday, unlimited annual leave, or moving to a four-day working week with no loss of pay.

Many of these benefits also help to improve work/life balance and support long-term retention and job satisfaction, so for you as a recruiter, it’s win-win.

Ultimately, while salary is important, it’s only part of the package, especially for candidates in the charity sector. So, if you can’t quite stretch to the salary you’d like to offer a candidate, focus on what really matters to them aside from pay. Support to work in a flexible, positive, inclusive environment in the ways that work best for them around their other life commitments can be invaluable.

We’re here to support you in reaching the right audience and discovering the perfect candidate. Begin your recruitment journey by posting a job on CharityJob.