Value of work and remuneration

I read in an interview with the head of a large nonprofit organization the phrase "highly qualified professionals will not work for the level of our NGO salaries". It is incredibly embarrassing to read something like that. It literally means "we have unqualified professionals working for us".

It is clear that NGOs have a complicated budgeting system, are constantly short of money, and are constantly having to do more work with less resources. In my opinion, adequate remuneration and the involvement of professionals must be a priority for every organization. But it should be in such a combination: not just to pay a lot of money, but to pay so much that professionals want to do this work, or that people are motivated to grow professionally for the sake of decent pay.

There is a lot to say about this. But instead, I recommend the 2008 book "Uncharitable" by Dan Pallotta, if anyone has not read it. I've read it a long time ago, and I keep coming back to the ideas in it: we're not going to change the situation in the sector unless we change our own mindset: we spend our lives creating a safer, more equal, cleaner, joyful, and fairer world, and that work is definitely highly valued for a society. And it should be paid according to it's value.