Pay Rates in Nonprofit Organizations

Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations, 18th Edition - 2005

PUBLISHED: October 2005

Summary of the 2,073-page Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations, 18th Edition - 2005 survey report of 126 benchmark jobs from Abbott, Langer & Associates, Inc.  The following describes the highest paid job characteristics, the national median total cash compensation for 48 benchmark jobs, and the factors affecting salary (Level of Supervisory/Managerial Responsibility, Type of Organization, Number of Employees, Annual Budget, Scope of Organization, and Geographic Area).

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The following is preliminary information on the survey report; the more extensive summary described above will be available here one month after it has been mailed to participating organizations of this survey.

Who is the highest-paid employee in the nonprofit sector? A composite representing such an individual was drawn by Dr. Steven Langer, using data from his recent survey of over 67,000 employees in 126 benchmark jobs reported by 1,661 nonprofit organizations of widely-differing types.

Copies of the complete three-volume, 1,709-page report entitled Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations, 18th Edition - 2005 can be purchased for $250.00 (for Part I - Professional Societies and Trade Associations), $310.00 (for Part II - All Other Organizations), and $375.00 (for both Parts I and II) through our On-Line Order Form or from Abbott, Langer & Associates, Inc., Dept. NET, 548 First St., Crete, IL 60417 (telephone 708/672-4200; fax 708/672-4674). Also available are Fringe Benefits and Working Conditions in Nonprofit Organizations, 5th Edition ($295.00); and Special Nonprofit Policies & Practices, 2003 ($250.00). State/Regional editions for California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, the Mid-Atlantic states (Washington, DC, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia), Mississippi, New York/New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are available for $240.00 each.

We also offer a Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations, 18th Edition - 2005 findpay program to locate and analyze all the information from the 1,709-page printed report and more quickly and easily on your Windows computer for $725.00. With the findpay software, you can analyze all the survey results, limit your analysis to the results from each printed volume separately (including the State/Regional Editions), or produce results unavailable in the printed reports. Computer software can only be returned for exchange if defective, but you can download and review a free working demonstration version of the findpay program (limited to a single variable at a time) with all the data from the recent survey here.

The composite executive with the highest annual income in a nonprofit organization in the U.S. is a Chief Executive Officer of an international, national, or state organization with 100 or more employees and an annual budget of $5 million or more. This composite individual is probably with a manufacturing trade association, a charitable organization, a transportation trade association, a foundation, an educational-providing organization, an educational professional society, a sheltered workshop, or an artistic/cultural/literary organization. He or she is located in or near New York City, Washington (DC), Long Beach/South Bay (CA), Arlington/Alexandria/Reston (VA), Austin, Chicago, Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem (NC), or Los Angeles, or outside the metropolitan areas studied in Virginia. While the median income of nonprofit CEOs is $88,006, some of the highest-paid Chief Executive Officers make well over $700,000.

Overall Income

The median incomes of some of the other 125 benchmark jobs for which data were reported in the survey report are:

Naturally, these nation-wide rates vary among the many regions, states, and metropolitan areas and numerous types of nonprofit organizations [ranging from advocacy/consumer organizations through chambers of commerce, hospitals/nursing homes, professional societies (by type), social welfare organizations, trade associations (by type), etc.] surveyed, as well as on the basis of the other demographic variables studied. Obviously, such benchmark jobs as Chief Legal Officer, Director of Government Relations, Field Staff Director, and Chief Economist occur primarily in the larger and/or better-financed nonprofit organizations.

Any apparent anomalies in the list above tend to "wash out" when consideration is given to the type and size of nonprofit organization and the other demographic variables studied, as is possible with the entire report.

Also, see other survey reports of Nonprofit Organizations.

the 1,709-page survey report, Compensation in Nonprofit Organizations, 18th Edition - 2005, described on this page for $375, with charges for shipping & handling (and IL sales tax, if applicable). The report is IN STOCK and can be shipped out within two business days. The mean, median, 1st and 3rd quartile, and 1st and 9th decile data for base salary, bonus/commission/profit sharing, and total annual cash compensation are reported for many demographic variables, including level of supervisory/managerial responsibility, geographic location, type and size of employer, etc. To purchase the report, use our On-Line Order Form, call 708/672-4200, email, fax, or write per the information at the bottom of this page.