Find Articles/Resources

Event Planners Salary & Attitudes Survey

Does Your Compensation Measure Up?

It’s a subject everybody thinks about but nobody talks about – at least not in the business and social venues that are the lifeblood of their existence. For professional event planners, salary and compensation packages vary widely based on geographic region, size of company, and years of experience, among other criteria. In a just completed online survey by Agenda, some trends emerged to help guide all full- and part-time planners alike as they attempt to benchmark their own compensation against the industry standard.

The survey also uncovered some revealing attitudinal patterns of those involved in event planning. For example, while most respondents rate highly the companies for which they work, an overwhelming majority said they would be interested in finding a new job in 2007. What’s more, many respondents felt they were not fairly compensated relative to other planners in the profession, and not fairly paid relative to other employees in their own companies at comparable management/responsibility levels.

It’s also interesting that in measuring job satisfaction, the matter of financial compensation didn’t rank first – or even second. Planners listed “the work itself” as the top gauge of job satisfaction, followed by “the people” they work with. However, it probably wouldn’t shock you to learn that many of those with the higher compensations reported higher job satisfaction.

Overall, most professionals involved in event planning fall into a general range of annual compensation from $50,000 to $70,000 in 2006. The number one grouping for respondents was $60,000 to $70,000 (19 percent response). At the very high end, 12 percent report compensation of $100,000 or greater.

The compensation for 2006 represents a slight increase from the year-earlier number, according to two-thirds of the respondents. Eight percent say their figure is much higher, 20 percent report the same, and 5 percent indicate their compensation actually dropped over the previous year.

Included in the compensation was an incentive bonus of 10 percent of salary or less for three-quarters of the respondents, while 24 percent noted bonuses of 10 to 25 percent of their annual salaries.

Respondents from the Northeast, depending how you slice it, seemed to report the highest compensation numbers. The Northeast had the most respondents reporting packages greater than $100,000, followed by the West and then the Midwest. The West, however, had the greatest number of respondents reporting packages of $80,000 or more.

As can be expected, planners did better financially if their companies had larger budgets for events. Additionally, more years of experience correlated with higher compensation programs.

Regarding specific titles and positions, association executives who have event planning as part of their responsibility represented the group reporting the highest financial packages, but also some of the lowest. This is a reflection of the thinking that association professionals, as well as corporate professionals whose titles do not include “event and meeting planning,” are either top managers calling the shots themselves or administrative-level support employees who have been handed the responsibility and need a quick crash course on the event-planning process.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of meetings planned by a respondent had little correlation to the level of his/her compensation. A full-time corporate event planner, whose sole responsibility is event planning and who, perhaps, plans more events than a corporate part-timer, doesn’t necessarily earn more money because of the higher event volume.

The survey was conducted in November 2006 via email to a representative sample of Agenda subscribers who listed their titles or positions as corporate event and meeting planner; corporate professional responsible for event or meeting planning; and association executive responsible for event or meeting planning. More than 240 professionals completed the survey.

What They Earn

What will your total financial compensation (salary plus bonus) be in 2006?

Less than $30,000	3%
$30,000 to $40,000	9%
$40,000 to $50,000	13%
$50,000 to $60,000	18%
$60,000 to $70,000	19%
$70,000 to $80,000	14%
$80,000 to $90,000	8%
$90,000 to $100,000	5%
$100,000 to $125,000	7%
$125,000 to $150,000	2%
Greater than $150,000	3%

How will this compare with the year-earlier 2005?

Much higher	8%
Slightly higher	67%
Same	21%
Slightly lower	5%
Much lower	0%

What percentage incentive bonus will you get?

Less than 10% of salary	75%
10-25%	23%
25-50%	2%
Greater than 50%	0%

What do you expect your compensation to be in 2007, compared with 2006?

Much higher	5%
Slightly higher	60%
Same	32%
Slightly lower	2%
Much lower	1%

Who They Are: Demographic Profile

Which best describes your professional title or position?

Corporate meeting or event planner	57%
Corporate professional (but without a planner title) responsible for or involved with meeting or event planning	25%
Association executive responsible for or involved with meeting or event planning	18%

Is event planning your primary responsibility?

Yes	74%
No	26%

About what percentage of your time is devoted to event planning?

100%	47%
75%	23%
50%	15%
25%	11%
Less than 25%	4%

COMPENSATION BY TITLE

	Corporate event / Meeting planner	Other Corporate Professional	Association Executive
Less than $40,000	2.9%	20.4%	12.5
$40,000 to $50,000	11.8	11.4	21.9
$50,000 to $60,000	20.6	20.5	12.5
$60,000 to $70,000	20.6	25.0	15.6
$70,000 to $80,000	14.7	18.2	9.4
$80,000 to $90,000	11.8	4.5	0.0
Greater than $90,000	17.7	0.0	28.1

GO EAST, YOUNG MAN>COMPENSATION BY REGION

	Northeast	Midwest	West
Less than $40,000	10.3%	15.6%	15.8%
$40,000 to $50,000	8.5	34.4	7.9
$50,000 to $60,000	17.9	12.5	15.8
$60,000 to $70,000	20.5	12.5	21.1
$70,000 to $80,000	15.4	12.5	10.5
$80,000 to $100,000	12.8	6.3	18.4
Greater than $100,000	14.6	6.3	10.5

YEARS OF PLANNING EXPERIENCE VS. COMPENSATION

	< 1 yr	1-3 yrs	3-5 yrs	5-8 yrs	8-10 yrs	>10 yrs
Less than $30,000	33.3%	23.5%	5.3%	0.0%	0.0%	2.3%
$30,000 to $40,000	66.7	5.9	10.5	4.8	16.7	5.7
$40,000 to $50,000		35.3	31.6	14.3	10.0	4.6
$50,000 to $60,000		23.5	36.8	23.8	16.7	11.5
$60,000 to $70,000			5.3	28.6	13.3	24.1
$70,000 to $80,000		11.8	10.5	16.7	20.0	11.5
$80,000 to $90,000				4.8	10.0	11.5
Greater than $90,000				7.2	13.4	28.7

COMPENSATION VS. SIZE OF COMPANY’S EVENT BUDGET

	$100k or less	$100k-500k	$500k-$1M	$1M-$5M	$5M-$10M
Less than $30,000	18.4%	2.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
$30,000 to $40,000	10.5	17.8	12.5
$40,000 to $50,000	13.2	11.1	4.2	17.8	11.1
$50,000 to $60,000	26.3	20.0	20.8	17.8	16.7
$60,000 to $70,000	10.5	22.2	25.0	20.0	27.8
$70,000 to $80,000	13.2	8.9	20.8	17.8	16.7
$80,000 to $90,000	2.6	6.7		13.3	5.6
Greater than $90,000	5.2	12.1	16.7	13.3	22.3

Satisfaction Levels

Do you think you are fairly paid relative to others in your profession?

Yes	29%
No	43%
Not Sure	29%

Do you think you are fairly paid relative to others within your company at similar
responsibility/management levels?

Yes	35%
No	40%
Not Sure	26%

How would you rate your current satisfaction with your job?

Very high	36%
Somewhat high	37%
Neutral	13%
Somewhat low	11%
Very low	4%

ON-THE-JOB SATISFACTION VS. COMPENSATION

	Very Satisfied	Somewhat Satisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Unsatisfied	Very Unsatisfied
Less than $30,000	0.0%	5.4%	4.3%	4.8%	25.0%
$30,000 to $40,000	4.2	8.1	30.4	4.8
$40,000 to $50,000	12.7	10.8	8.7	19.0	25.0
$50,000 to $60,000	16.9	20.3	8.7	23.8	25.0
$60,000 to $70,000	16.9	18.9	26.1	28.6
$70,000 to $80,000	12.7	16.2	21.7		12.5
$80,000 to $90,000	9.9	6.8		9.5
Greater than $90,000	26.8	13.6		9.5	12.5

How interested would you be in finding another job in 2007?

Very	30%
Somewhat	38%
Not At All	32%

Which of the following aspects of your job is the most important to you?

Financial compensation	15%
The work itself	40%
The people	24%
The company	10%
The recognition	2%
Other	9%

COMPENSATION VS. MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE JOB

	Comps	The Work Itself	People	Company	Other
Less than $30,000	6.7%	1.3%	8.3%	0.0%	5.9%
$30,000 to $40,000	3.3	9.0	10.4	10.0	5.9
$40,000 to $50,000	10.0	11.5	16.7	10.0	11.8
$50,000 to $60,000	20.0	17.9	10.4	45.0	5.9
$60,000 to $70,000	23.3	19.2	20.8	5.0	23.5
$70,000 to $80,000	23.3	12.8	10.4	5.0	17.6
$80,000 to $90,000	3.3	6.4	12.5	10.0	5.9
$90,000 to $100,000	3.3	6.4	2.1	5.0	5.9
Greater than $90,000	10.0	21.8	10.5	15.0	23.5

How would you rate your company as an organization to work for?

Very high	35%
Somewhat high	41%
Neutral	17%
Somewhat low	6%
Very low	2%