The analysis of dependence of wage costs on the number of volunteers and size of activity based on the annual reports of foundations

Abstract

The subject of this article is to examine the dependence of wage costs in the foundations from such factors as the number of volunteers working in it and the size of activity measured by revenue and the number of recipients of the foundation’s services. The source of data are the financial and material reports prepared by non-profit organizations. Foundations as organizations that are not profit-making are a specific group of entities that are required to make much more extensive reports. The statistical linear regression method and the correlation coefficients between the variables tested were used. The analysis covered three wage-related dimensions: annual wage costs, percentage of remuneration costs in the total of foundation costs and the amount of remuneration costs per one foundation employee. As a result of the research, there was a relationship between the amount of remuneration and the income of the foundation, whereas there were no significant relationships between the remaining variables tested. Thus, a model describing the annual costs of the foundation as a revenue function was built. The research results show that, in terms of cost optimization, it seems more advantageous to run a larger foundation, as a significant part of the remuneration costs is fixed and does not change with revenue. Taking into account the number of volunteers working at the foundation, a larger number does not mean lower cost of salaries paid by the organization.