Chief executives at largest charities paid median of £150,000 04 Sep 2017 News The median salary of the chief executives at the largest 100 charities in the UK has risen to £150,000, according to the latest survey from Charity Finance. So how about your CEO takes £40,000 less salary next year and saves 10,000 lives?” This was a message received from a monthly donor by one of the UK’s best-loved charities in August 2013, following sustained media coverage about the high pay of chief executives in the UK voluntary sector. Average pay up on 2015. The lowest-paying charity to make the top 100 was the education charity Reach2, which paid its highest earner between £140,000 and £145,000. Overall, the average (mean) pay across the top 100 charities was £255,000, compared with £212,500 in 2015.