Nonprofit CEOs see modest salary growth

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30716
• Published date: 01 February 2020
• Date: 01 February 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

5

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Industry News

Nonprot CEOs see modest salary growth

Nonprot CEOs saw slower salary growth in FY

2017 compared to the year prior, according to the latest

data from Candid and GuideStar, reecting a pause in

pay jumps that had brought average CEO salaries in

line with what they were before the Great Recession hit.

As laid out in the 2019 GuideStar Nonprot Com-

pensation Report—which analyzes compensation data

for some 113,000 nonprots—median compensation

increases for CEOs in 2017 were lower than 2016 for

nonprots in all but one budget category. The one

exception was for men at organizations with budgets

of $250,000 or less, who saw a pay increase of 1.3%

compared to no increase at all in 2016. In all other

categories, pay raises rarely strayed above 1% for

women or 2% for men (see box below).

That follows two years of sizable increases across

the sector’s executive leadership ranks, with 2015 and

2016 seeing raises of 3% to 4% or more each year. In

fact, 2016 was just the second year since the recession

of 2008–09 where raises hit that level.

Notable, too, is the pay-increase differences broken

down by gender that were reported the past few years.

While in 2015 and 2016 women were given raises on par

with—or greater than—their male counterparts, 2017

saw the opposite, with male CEOs reporting salary

increases well above women in most budget categories.

Overall, though, the gender pay gap changed little.

In 2016, the gap between male and female salaries

ranged from 4% at organizations with budgets of

$250,000 or less to 20% at organizations with budgets

of greater than $50 million.

In comparison, 2017 saw a gap between male and

female salaries of 5% at organizations with budgets

of $250,000 or less and 20% at organizations with

budgets of greater than $50 million.

Other ndings from the report include:

• Although the number of female nonprot CEOs

has increased since 2005, the survey saw only slight

increases in the percentage of women leading organiza-

tions in any budget category between 2016 and 2017.

• Science and health organizations had the highest

overall median salaries, while religion and animal-

related organizations brought up the rear.

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

Median increase in incumbent CEO compensation by gender, 2015–17

Budget Size 2015–16 2016–17

Females Males Females Males

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

Between $250k and $500k 2.5% 1.6% 0.7% 1.0%

Between $500k and $1 million 2.8% 2.3% 0.9% 0.9%

Between $1 million and $2.5 million 2.9% 2.5% 1.2% 1.6%

Between $2.5 million and $5 million 3.1% 2.9% 1.0% 2.0%

Between $5 million and $10 million 3.3% 3.2% 1.0% 2.1%

Between $10 million and $25 million 3.9% 3.4% 1.0% 2.0%

Between $25 million and $50 million 4.3% 4.4% 3.1% 0.1%

Greater than $50 million 4.0% 4.2% 0.2% 0.1%

Source: 2019 GuideStar Nonprot Compensation Report. ■

Have a nonprot question

or story idea you would like to share?

Contact Nicholas King, Editor, at

nicholaskingllc@gmail.com