29 September 2026: Team Rakta Sanjeevani joined the Grants+ Webinar Series hosted by Dhwani Foundation on “What Does It Take to Build a Strong Social Sector Workforce?”. The session looked at NGO salaries, talent costs, HR systems and how donors can support strong, sustainable teams.
The panel
- Arnab Chakraborty, HRD Lead, PRADAN
- Shilpa Ravikumar, General Manager, People & Culture, CRY
- Girish Ananth, Founder, Raahi: Impact
- Nikil KP, Asst. Director, Shared Services & Alumni, Dhwani Foundation
Key takeaways
The discussion drew on Raahi: Impact’s Compensation & Benefits Benchmarks in the Indian Social Sector (February 2026).
- There is no one “social sector” salary. Average CEO/founder pay ranges from about Rs 3.5 lakh a year in the smallest NGOs to over Rs 44 lakh in large ones. Budget size shapes the whole pay ladder.
- Talent challenges are rarely “just pay”. Attracting people is shaped by skill-pay mismatch, fit with the mission and field, and location. Keeping them is shaped by career ceilings, pull from other sectors, and burnout.
- Look beyond salary levels to salary systems. Among 90 organisations surveyed, 78% have an appraisal process, 59% have salary scales, and only 39% use a competency rubric.
Why this matters to us
Our trainers, coordinators and field teams are the backbone of every programme we run in Assam and beyond. We are grateful for these insights as we keep strengthening our own teams.
Thank you, Dhwani Foundation and the Grants+ Webinar Series, for a valuable conversation.