Nonprofit CEO salaries on the uptick

• Date: 01 December 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31188

December 2020 • Volume 37, Number 4 5

DOI 10.1002/ban© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

Nonprot CEO salaries on the uptick

Nonprofit CEOs saw markedly higher sal-

ary increases in FY 2018 compared to the year

prior, according to the latest data from Candid

and GuideStar, reverting to long-term trends

that have seen salaries gradually return to lev-

els seen before the Great Recession.

The data—included in the 2020 Nonprofit

Compensation Report from Candid—shows that

median compensation increases for CEOs in

2018 were even with, or higher than, 2017 for

nonprofits in all budget categories. Further, pay

raises for female CEOs outpaced those of their

male counterparts in nearly all budget bands—

the one exception was for men at organizations

with budgets of $25 million to $50 million. That

contrasts with 2017, which saw male CEOs re-

port salary increases well above female CEOs in

most budget categories (see box below).

As in previous years, however, the higher

annual pay raises for women CEOs has done

little to address the broader gender pay gap

that exists in the nonprofit sector. According to

the report, female CEO pay averaged anywhere

from 5% to 20% less than comparable male

counterparts, depending on organization budget

categories. Generally, the higher the organiza-

tional budget, the higher the annual raises for

CEOs, and the higher the gender pay gap. The

figures for 2018 were nearly identical to 2017,

and even slightly worse than in 2016, when the

gender gap was 4% at organizations with bud-

gets of $250,000 or less.

Experts say that benchmarking data such as

that included in the Candid report can prove

helpful for current nonprofit CEOs looking

to negotiate pay raises in the new year. Also,

individuals mulling new executive leadership

positions in the philanthropic sector can draw

on the data to argue for compensation packages

more in line with for-profit enterprises, they say.

It’s important, however, to make sure what-

ever data you use to bolster your argument for

a raise be true “apples to apples.” On this front,

the Candid report is helpful, as it gives break-

downs for salaries in about 278 metropolitan

statistical areas across the country—making

accurate comparisons easier.

For more information, visit https://candid.org. ■

Median Increase in Incumbent CEO Compensation by Gender, 2016–18

Budget Size 2016–17 2017–18

Females Males Females Males

$250k or less 0.3% 1.3% 1.3% 0.0%

Between $250k

and $500k 0.7% 1.0% 2.4% 1.2%

Between $500k

and $1 million 0.9% 0.9% 2.7% 2.4%

Between $1 million

and $2.5 million 1.2% 1.6% 3.0% 2.6%

Between $2.5 million

and $5 million 1.0% 2.0% 3.2% 2.9%

Between $5 million

and $10 million 1.0% 2.1% 3.3% 3.2%

Between $10 million

and $25 million 1.0% 2.0% 3.6% 3.4%

Between $25 million

and $50 million 3.1% 0.1% 3.6% 4.4%

Greater than $50 million 0.2% 0.1% 4.0% 4.0%

Source: 2020 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report. ■