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Nonprofit Benchmarks
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Compensation benchmarks, salary data, and financial analysis for U.S. nonprofits. Built from real IRS Form 990 filings and updated regularly.

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Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Executive Director Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit executive director earns $86,580 per year based on 56,651 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Executive directors typically lead smaller organizations than CEOs and earn roughly 42% of the median CEO salary. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit CEO Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit CEO earns $207,708 per year based on 18,185 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Compensation varies dramatically by budget size, geography, and sector. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit CFO Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit CFO earns $175,170 per year based on 9,300 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. CFOs earn 84% of the median CEO salary and nearly twice the median executive director salary, reflecting the specialized financial expertise the role demands. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Development Director Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit development director earns $131,308 per year based on 966 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Development directors lead fundraising operations and are among the highest-paid non-executive roles in the sector. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit President Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit president earns $44,660 per year based on 33,067 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. "President" is the second most common title in 990 filings after board member, used across organizations ranging from small volunteer-led groups to billion-dollar health systems. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit COO Salary: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit COO earns $183,867 per year based on 5,721 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. COOs earn 89% of the median CEO salary, reflecting the operational complexity these leaders manage. Here is what the data shows.

Financial Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Overhead Ratio: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit spends 80.6% of its budget on programs, 12.6% on administration, and the rest on fundraising — based on 69,771 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Overhead ratios vary by budget size, sector, and geography. Here is what the data shows.

Governance Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Board Size: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit board has 8 voting members, with 83.7% board independence — based on 231,993 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Board size and governance policy adoption vary significantly by budget size, sector, and state. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Rankings

Highest-Paid U.S. Nonprofit Employees: 2024 Rankings

More than 4,000 nonprofit employees earned over $1 million in total compensation in tax year 2024 based on IRS Form 990 filings. The top earner — a health system CEO — took home over $30.8 million. Here is a look at who they are, where they work, and what drives the highest pay packages in the nonprofit sector.

Financial Health

U.S. Nonprofits Dependent on Government Funding: 2024 Analysis

One in three U.S. nonprofits that receive government grants get more than half their revenue from government sources — 19,088 organizations based on 56,397 Form 990 filings for tax year 2024. With $108.9 billion in total government grants flowing to nonprofits, the stakes of federal funding changes are enormous. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit CEO Salary by State: 2024 Benchmarks

Nonprofit CEO salaries vary dramatically by state — from a median of $358,590 in Washington D.C. to $139,849 in Arizona. Based on IRS Form 990 data across 35 states, here is what nonprofit Chief Executive Officers actually earn by location.

Compensation Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Executive Director Salary by State: 2024 Benchmarks

Nonprofit Executive Director salaries vary significantly by state — from a median of $168,974 in Washington D.C. to $65,900 in Arkansas. Based on IRS Form 990 data across 36 states, here is what nonprofit Executive Directors actually earn by location.

Largest U.S. Nonprofits by Revenue: 2024 Rankings

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan leads the U.S. nonprofit sector with $82.5 billion in annual revenue. The top 1% of nonprofits — just 4,650 organizations — control 77% of the sector's $2.34 trillion in total revenue. Here are the full rankings.

Hospital & Healthcare

U.S. Nonprofit Hospital Charity Care: 2023 Benchmarks

U.S. nonprofit hospitals reported $278.8 billion in total community benefit in tax year 2023 — a median of 7% of total costs across 1,819 Schedule H filers operating 3,022 facilities. Unreimbursed Medicaid accounts for 62% of community benefit, while direct charity care represents 6%. Here is what the data shows about how tax-exempt hospitals justify their exemptions.

Growth & Trends

Fastest Growing U.S. Nonprofits: 2019–2024 Revenue Data

Over 62,700 U.S. nonprofits at least doubled their revenue between 2019 and 2024. The median nonprofit grew 23% over that five-year period, but growth varied dramatically by sector, size, and geography. Here is what the data shows.

Financial Benchmarks

Largest U.S. Public Charities: 2024 Rankings

Which U.S. public charities bring in the most revenue? We ranked 154,322 organizations — excluding hospitals, universities, and private foundations — to find the largest by revenue and total assets.

Financial Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Fundraising Efficiency: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit spends $0.06 to raise each dollar of contributions — based on 68,247 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Fundraising costs vary significantly by budget size, sector, and geography. Here is what the data shows.

Compensation Benchmarks

Highest Paid U.S. University Presidents

The median U.S. university president earns $355,217 — but at schools with over $1B in revenue, the median jumps to $1.48M. Based on 834 U.S. colleges and universities filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2023, the most recent complete dataset available for cross-institution comparison.

Financial Benchmarks

U.S. Nonprofit Program Expense Ratio: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit spends 88.6% of its total expenses on program services based on 293,882 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024. Program expense ratios vary significantly by sector, budget size, and geography. Here is what the data shows.

Financial Health

U.S. Nonprofit Operating Reserve Benchmarks: What the Data Shows

The median U.S. nonprofit holds 18 months of operating reserves — but that number varies widely by size and sector. Here's what 430,486 IRS Form 990 filings reveal.

Financial Health

Where Do U.S. Nonprofits Get Their Money? 2024 Revenue Data

Program service revenue accounts for 67% of the U.S. nonprofit sector's $2.3 trillion in total revenue, while contributions and grants make up 20%. But the funding mix varies dramatically by sector and organization size. Here is what 464,924 IRS Form 990 filings reveal.

Compensation Trends

U.S. Nonprofit CEO Pay Growth: 2019–2024 Trends

Median U.S. nonprofit CEO compensation grew 9.5% from $189,324 in 2019 to $207,351 in 2023 — but the gains were far from equal. Healthcare CEOs saw nearly 40% growth while arts and religion sectors saw pay decline. Here is what five years of IRS Form 990 data reveals about who is gaining and who is falling behind.

Compliance & Transparency

U.S. Nonprofit Tax-Exempt Revocations

The IRS revoked over 66,000 nonprofits' tax-exempt status in 2024 — a 10% increase from the prior year. Explore which states and organization types are most affected.

Compensation Equity

U.S. Nonprofit CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio: 2024 Benchmarks

The median U.S. nonprofit CEO earns 3.8x the average worker at their organization — far below the corporate ratio of 285:1. Based on 12,126 organizations filing IRS Form 990 for tax year 2024, here is how pay ratios vary by budget size, sector, and state.

Governance & Leadership

U.S. Nonprofit CEO Turnover: What 990 Data Reveals

Across 29,786 U.S. nonprofits tracked over five years of IRS Form 990 filings, 14.7% of CEOs are replaced in any given year — and the rate is climbing. Healthcare nonprofits churn fastest at 18%, while larger organizations ($100M+) see turnover rates of 21%. Here is what the data shows about leadership stability in the sector.

Financial Benchmarks

U.S. Donor-Advised Fund Comparison: Contributions In vs. Grants Out

Across 23 of the largest U.S. DAF sponsors, $47.9 billion flowed in as contributions in 2023 while only $34.4 billion was granted out to charities — a $13.5 billion gap. Combined assets now exceed $232 billion. Here is what the Form 990 data shows.

U.S. Nonprofit Red Flags: 7 Warning Signs Backed by 990 Data

One in four U.S. nonprofits spends less than half its budget on programs. More than 1 in 5 saw revenue drop 25%+ in a single year. These are seven data-driven warning signs donors and board members can spot in IRS Form 990 filings — based on 499,997 tax year 2024 returns.

Foundation Grants

U.S. Foundation Grants by Cause Area: Where the Money Goes

In tax year 2023, U.S. nonprofits distributed $127.5 billion across 726,877 grants to nearly 290,000 recipient organizations. Healthcare and education each captured over $18 billion — together accounting for 28% of all grant dollars. Here is where the money went.

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