Kim Klein has a great riff in her trainings on grassroots fundraising about how Americans are uncomfortable discussing personal finances. One of the things she says that I haven’t forgotten in the twenty-plus years since I first heard it is that many people would rather tell you the details of their sex lives than divulge their salaries. Beside the fact that one conversation sounds more fun than the other, our reticence in discussing our compensation is a little strange in our market-obsessed culture.

Despite assaults that are regularly launched by the press on our higher paid leaders (some of which are fully justified), there is not much public attention paid to the full range of salary levels in nonprofits. So, as part of our attempt to form a more complete examination of salary issues in nonprofits, we’re now looking for people, working at every level of nonprofitland, who would agree to share their salary levels and job responsibilities with us.

So how about it? If you are willing to help us explore the link between compensation and types of job in nonprofits, respond giving your name, job title and phone number and we will get back to you to do an interview. As usual, we won’t attribute anything you tell us for publication without your approval.

And for us, this will be thrilling. There is nothing we like better than people’s own stories and the way we relate to our jobs is a fascinating topic.