Facts and figures
(Update 04.04.2023: current figures from the Fundraising Association Austria)
In Austria, an NGO usually takes the legal form of an association. There is a public extract from the register of associations for every association. This register of associations shows that there were 126,141 associations in Austria in 2021. Most associations come from the sports and cultural sector (soccer, tennis, basketball, music, theater, art clubs, etc.). Other legal forms, which are very rare in practice, are non-profit private foundations, non-profit limited liability companies (Ges.m.b.H.), non-profit stock corporations (AG) and cooperatives.
In 2021, there were around 250,000 employment relationships in the non-profit sector in Austria, which corresponds to around 5.8% of all employees in Austria. Around 36% of these were in the social sector, 14% in education (elementary school, kindergartens, secondary schools, adult education, etc.), 12% in healthcare (hospitals, emergency services) and the rest largely in various associations and religious institutions.
It is interesting to note that almost 3/4 of all employees (74%) in the non-profit sector are women and almost half of all employees are only employed part-time.
The work of volunteers plays a major role in Austria. In 2021, the monetary value of voluntary and paid work in the non-profit sector amounted to 11.5 billion euros and 3.4% of gross domestic product (GDP). On average, over 23 million hours per week were spent in the form of voluntary work. Assuming an average working week of 39.3 hours, this would correspond to around 610,000 full-time employees working on a voluntary basis.
Education
At our trade fair stands, we are often asked what training you need to be able to work in an NGO. However, this question cannot be answered in this way. For an emergency service, you will usually need to be a paramedic, in an environmental NGO you will need the necessary specialist knowledge of environmental protection issues and in social work you will need to be trained as a social worker. However, this is not always the case, but depends on the respective organization and the current need for employees and whether it is a paid job, an internship or volunteer work.
Whether you are looking for a paid job with a profit-oriented company or a social organization, the question of training is basically irrelevant. There are numerous paid jobs in the social sector on our job board, where a wide range of training is required.
Salaries in NGOs
It will come as no surprise that employers in the non-profit sector are generally less solvent than those in the for-profit private sector. This is in their nature. As the name suggests, non-profit organizations are generally not profit-oriented and are largely financed by public funds, donations, sponsorship, etc., whereas for-profit companies generate their own revenue and therefore have more money.
However, we must not generalize. It would be wrong to say that you generally get paid less in the NPO sector than elsewhere. It is best to simply compare the salaries in NGOs in the current job advertisements on our job board.
The following selected collective agreements can also be used as further guidance for salaries in NPOs (list is not updated regularly):
