Asking for a pay rise has probably never ranked particularly highly on anyone’s list of enjoyable workplace conversations, but in the membership sector right now, it can feel especially difficult.
Budgets are under pressure, membership organisations and associations are being asked to achieve more with increasingly stretched teams, and many roles have quietly expanded to include responsibilities that might not have been anywhere near the original job description.
You may have taken on a bigger team, inherited another area of responsibility, become the unofficial AI expert, started working more commercially, picked up data or digital responsibilities, or simply found that the job you are doing today bears surprisingly little resemblance to the one you were recruited to do.
Yet asking whether your salary should have moved with your role can still feel incredibly uncomfortable.
And, importantly, what can both employees and employers do to make conversations about pay feel more open, informed and constructive?
This is probably one of the biggest barriers in the membership sector.
When you work closely with budgets, membership income, event performance or commercial targets, you may know exactly how much pressure your organisation is under. In a smaller association or professional body, you might even sit a few desks away from the person trying to make the numbers work.
That knowledge can make asking for more money feel almost disloyal.
But understanding the financial pressures facing your organisation and recognising the value of your role are not mutually exclusive.
If you're the employee
Try to separate “I deserve more money” from “I'd like to have a conversation about how my role and salary have evolved.”
Go into the discussion with evidence. What has changed since your salary was last reviewed? What additional responsibilities have you taken on? What outcomes have you delivered? Has the market value of your skills changed?
You aren't demanding an immediate yes. You're opening a sensible conversation.
If you're the manager or senior leader
Don't assume silence means somebody is happy with their salary.
Some of your most conscientious employees may actually be the least likely to ask, particularly if they understand the organisation's financial pressures.
Regular salary and role reviews can stop employees feeling that the only way to raise the subject is through an uncomfortable confrontation.
Membership organisations are often highly relationship-driven workplaces, and that can be one of their greatest strengths, but it can also make difficult conversations feel more personal.
If you like your manager, believe in the organisation's purpose and genuinely enjoy your job, asking for more money can somehow feel as though you're saying those things aren't enough.
They are separate issues. You can love what an organisation does and still want to be paid fairly for the work you do.
If you're the employee
Keep the conversation about the role, contribution and market, rather than making it about emotion.
Instead of approaching it as an ultimatum, explain how your responsibilities have developed and ask whether your remuneration still reflects the scope of the position.
That small shift in language can make the conversation feel much less confrontational.
If you're the manager or senior leader
How you react the first time somebody raises salary matters enormously.
Even if the answer cannot be yes immediately, an employee should be able to ask a reasonable question about their pay without feeling that they have damaged the relationship.
A good response might be: “I can't promise an increase today, but let's look properly at how your role has changed and what the options are.”
That keeps the conversation open.
This is a big one. Membership sector roles can be surprisingly difficult to benchmark because two people with almost identical job titles can have completely different responsibilities.
A Membership Manager in one organisation might predominantly focus on engagement and retention, while somewhere else they could be responsible for commercial partnerships, CRM strategy, member insight, events and a substantial income target.
The same applies across policy, communications, marketing, finance, governance, education and operations.
So people often rely on their current salary as the benchmark for what they're worth, rather than looking at what the market is actually paying for their skills and responsibilities.
If you're the employee
Do some homework before you ask. Look at comparable vacancies, specialist salary data and roles with similar responsibilities, rather than simply matching your job title.
And don't underestimate skills you've acquired almost accidentally. Commercial awareness, AI confidence, data literacy, digital capability, stakeholder management and change leadership are becoming increasingly valuable across the sector.
If you're the manager or senior leader
Benchmarking shouldn't only ideally happen when somebody resigns.
One of the most frustrating situations for an employee is being told there isn't budget for a salary increase, only to see their organisation advertise their replacement several months later at a significantly higher salary.
Regular external benchmarking can help identify problems before they become retention problems.
Sometimes the fear isn't actually having the conversation. It's what happens afterwards. If you ask and the answer is no, where does that leave you?
That uncertainty means people can spend months saying nothing, becoming progressively more frustrated, while their manager may have absolutely no idea there is a problem.
If you're the employee
Remember that “not now” and “never” are very different answers. If an immediate increase isn't possible, ask what would need to happen for the conversation to be revisited.
Could you agree specific objectives? Could your salary be reviewed at the next budgeting point? Is there scope for a change in title, responsibilities, development, flexibility or benefits in the meantime?
Most importantly, agree a date to talk again rather than leaving things hanging indefinitely.
If you're the manager or senior leader
If the answer is no, explain why. “We don't have the budget” may be true, but on its own it doesn't give somebody much reason to believe things will change.
Give them clarity around what is possible, what isn't, and when the conversation can realistically be revisited.
People can often cope surprisingly well with an answer they don't particularly like if they understand it and believe the process is fair.
This is perhaps the most important one for employers. For some employees, asking for a pay rise feels so uncomfortable that applying for another job actually feels easier. By the time their manager discovers salary was an issue, they may already have interviewed elsewhere and mentally started leaving.
Then comes the counter-offer. Sometimes it works. Often it simply addresses a conversation that should have happened six months earlier.
If you're the employee
Before deciding that leaving is your only option, consider whether you've actually given your employer the opportunity to understand what you want. If salary is the main issue and you would otherwise happily stay, a conversation may be worthwhile before you start looking elsewhere.
Equally, if you've raised the issue constructively several times and nothing changes, that information is useful too. It may help you decide what you want your next move to look like.
If you're the manager or senior leader
Don't wait for a resignation letter to discover what your people are thinking. Ask, are their responsibilities still accurately reflected in their job description? Do they feel their salary reflects their contribution? Where do they want their role to develop? What might tempt them to leave?
Those conversations can feel uncomfortable, but they are considerably easier than trying to replace a good person after they've accepted another offer.
There will always be situations where an organisation simply cannot afford the increase somebody wants, just as there will be occasions when an employee's expectations don't match the market. But neither of those things makes the conversation itself a bad thing.
In fact, in a membership sector where roles are changing quickly and people are increasingly being asked to combine traditional membership expertise with commercial, digital, data, AI and leadership capabilities, not talking openly about how jobs and salaries are evolving may be the bigger risk.
For employees, the answer is preparation rather than confrontation: understand your contribution, understand the market and be clear about what you're asking for.
For managers and senior leaders, the answer is to create an environment where somebody doesn't need to hand in their notice before you find out they felt under-valued.
Because sometimes the most valuable salary conversation is the one that happens before somebody starts looking elsewhere.
Membership Bespoke works exclusively across the membership sector, giving us a close view of how roles, skills and salaries are changing across associations, professional bodies, trade associations and other membership organisations.
Whether you're considering your next career move, recruiting into your team or simply want a clearer picture of the market, get in touch with us for an informal conversation.