Data Sources

Nonprofit Compensation Reports and Data Sources Compared

Form 990 lookups, compensation reports, surveys and peer-set tools for nonprofit executive pay, with each one's data, pay definition and published price.

By Josh GreenOctober 25, 202611 min read

Once a board decides to find out what similar organizations pay their executives, the next decision is where to get the figures. The choice affects the numbers you’ll see, because sources measure pay in different ways. Some count only the salary and bonus the organization itself paid, while others add pay from related organizations, deferred compensation and benefits, so two sources can show different figures for the same people.

Sources also come in three kinds, each answering a different question. A Form 990 lookup shows what one organization reported, while a compiled report or survey gives statistics for a group, such as every organization of one budget size. A peer-set tool, or a consultant, builds a set of organizations like yours and shows what they pay. This page starts with matching a source to your question, then sets out what each source says about itself.

Every fact below about another company comes from that company’s own pages, linked under its entry, as they read on October 25, 2026. Where a page doesn’t say, the entry reads “Not published.” PeerSet is one of the tools listed, with its limits stated the same way. PeerSet is not affiliated with or endorsed by any other company named here.

Start with the question

A report on every organization of your size can’t tell you what one neighbor pays, and one neighbor’s filing can’t tell you what’s typical, so settle which question your board is asking before you choose.

Which kind of compensation data source answers which question
The question	Kind of source	On this page
What does one particular organization pay its executive director?	A Form 990 lookup	ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer and GuideStar (Candid)
What do executive directors earn across a budget size, a state or a cause area?	A compiled report or survey	Candid’s Nonprofit Compensation Report, The NonProfit Times, MRA and Payscale
What do organizations like ours pay, and which organizations are they?	A peer-set tool or a consultant	Cause IQ, ERI, CauseComp, 990Search, Kindora, Lucido, NonprofitExecPay and PeerSet

A board may use more than one, such as a peer set to set pay and a national report to check it. If the review goes beyond the executive, a survey can also cover staff roles that Form 990s don’t list. Every source here has terms of use, so read them before you share its figures outside your organization.

What the IRS counts as comparability data

If the figures will back a decision on an executive’s pay, read the IRS’s own list before you choose, because comparability data is one of the three requirements of the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness. That’s the process the Treasury regulations set out for approving executive pay, and if a board follows it, the IRS presumes the pay is reasonable (Treas. Reg. §53.4958-6). The regulation says relevant comparability data “includes, but is not limited to, compensation levels paid by similarly situated organizations, both taxable and tax-exempt, for functionally comparable positions; the availability of similar services in the geographic area of the applicable tax-exempt organization; current compensation surveys compiled by independent firms; and actual written offers from similar institutions competing for the services of the disqualified person” (Treas. Reg. §53.4958-6(c)(2)(i)).

The regulation doesn’t require any one kind of source, which leaves the board to judge, given its members’ knowledge and expertise, whether a set of data is appropriate for a particular decision. The guide to the rebuttable presumption covers the other two requirements, and the guide to excess benefit transactions explains IRC 4958, the law behind the regulation.

How the sources differ

Before you set figures from two sources side by side, check what each one counts as pay. Sources built from Form 990 start from the same three columns in Part VII. Column D is reportable compensation from the organization, Column E is reportable compensation from related organizations, and Column F is other compensation, such as deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits. Each of those sources adds the columns up in its own way, while surveys skip the form and ask employers directly.

What each source is built from, how it measures pay, and its published price
Source	Built from	Pay measure	Price
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer	IRS returns (990, 990-EZ and 990-PF)	As each return reports it	Not published
GuideStar (Candid)	990s and direct reporting	Not published	Free account; paid plans from $1,199 a year
Candid’s Nonprofit Compensation Report	Forms 990 and 990-EZ, fiscal year 2024	Total: Columns D, E and F	Not shown; checkout needs a Candid login
The NonProfit Times	A survey of participating organizations	Base salary, bonus and total cash	$475
MRA	A survey of 164 organizations	Not published	$599 for members, $1,199 for others
Payscale	367 salary profiles	Base salary, with total pay ranges	Not published
Cause IQ	Not published; profiles carry Form 990 data	Not published	Pro, $5,988 a year ($4,488 for 501(c)(3)s)
ERI	Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, with for-profit data available	Competitive cash compensation, adjusted	Not published
CauseComp	Forms 990 and 990-EZ, modeled; federal surveys for staff	Total, with Schedule J parts	$349 a report; $588 or $996 a year
990Search	Form 990, filing years 2014–2025	Total, including related organizations	$9.90 a report; $50 a month or $490 a year
Kindora	Form 990 Part VII	Total compensation (shown as medians)	Free; paid plans from $25 a month
Lucido	Form 990	Columns D and F from the organization	Free; Pro $54.99 a month or $449 a year
NonprofitExecPay	Form 990 series	Total, as filed and trended	$79 a month
PeerSetOur product	Form 990 and 990-EZ e-filings	Column D only	Free

For the same people, a median of total compensation is at least as high as a median of Column D, because it counts more pay. So when two sources disagree, compare their definitions before you decide that one is high or low. The entries below give each source’s own words, grouped by the three kinds.

Form 990 lookups

A lookup site lets you read one organization’s filings, including the Part VII pay of its officers, directors, trustees, key employees and highest-paid staff, which makes it the place to go when the board wants to know what a particular organization pays. It’s slow for building a comparison, though, because a set of twenty peers means opening twenty filings and copying the figures by hand.

ProPublica, Nonprofit Explorer

A database of nonprofit tax returns. You can search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings.Pay: As each return reports it · Price: Not published

A database of nonprofit tax returns. You can search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings.

Built from: Summary data from returns processed by the IRS, with links to full Form 990 documents in PDF and digital formats.
Pay measure: As each organization reported it on its return.
Coverage: Organizations in all 27 subsections of section 501(c), plus taxable trusts and private foundations that file Form 990-PF.
Format: Online organization pages and search.
Updates: ProPublica says it updates the Form 990 documents regularly, as the IRS releases them.
Price: Not published

From ProPublica, Nonprofit Explorer, read October 25, 2026.

Candid, GuideStar profiles

Candid’s nonprofit profiles, searchable by name, EIN or keyword.Pay: Not published · Price: Free account; paid plans from $1,199 a year

Candid’s nonprofit profiles, searchable by name, EIN or keyword.

Built from: Candid says its data comes from sources including 990s and direct reporting.
Pay measure: Not published
Coverage: IRS-recognized tax-exempt organizations and faith-based nonprofits.
Format: Online profiles. Paid plans add full profile views, downloads and peer benchmarking.
Updates: Candid says its data is verified and updated daily.
Price: A free account gives basic profile views. Candid’s Standard pricing lists Premium from $2,199 a year and Ultimate from $2,499 a year, billed annually. For verified non-funding organizations it lists Premium at $219 a month or from $1,199 a year, and Ultimate from $1,699 a year.

From Candid, GuideStar home page and Candid, pricing, read October 25, 2026.

Compiled reports and surveys

A report suits a broader question, such as what executive directors earn at every organization of one budget size or in one state, because it gives statistics for the whole category. Some reports are built from Form 990 filings, while surveys ask participating employers directly and so can cover staff below the top tier. Before you buy one, check how it defines pay, because the definition moves the numbers. Check its license too, because some licenses limit who may read the report and what you may share from it. Candid’s report has its own page, what Candid’s Nonprofit Compensation Report covers.

Candid, Nonprofit Compensation Report

A report of nonprofit executive pay, built from IRS filings. The current edition is the 2026 report, Candid’s 26th.Pay: Total: Columns D, E and F · Price: Not shown; checkout needs a Candid login

A report of nonprofit executive pay, built from IRS filings. The current edition is the 2026 report, Candid’s 26th.

Built from: Forms 990 and 990-EZ for fiscal year 2024, with 201,125 observations from 119,701 filings by 501(c) organizations. Private foundations are not included.
Pay measure: Total compensation, which Candid defines as Form 990 Part VII Columns D, E and F added together. People with total compensation under $15,000 are left out.
Coverage: 14 leadership positions, by budget size, cause area, gender and location (national, state and 285 metropolitan areas).
Format: A report. The free sample, a PDF, shows its tables.
Updates: Not published as a schedule. The 2026 edition, the 26th, draws on every fiscal year 2024 return available on May 30, 2026.
Price: Not shown on the report page. The checkout asks you to log in to a Candid account.

From Candid, Nonprofit Compensation Report, Candid, 2026 Nonprofit Compensation Report sample (PDF) and Candid, Nonprofit Compensation Report License Agreement, read October 25, 2026.

The NonProfit Times, Nonprofit Organizations Salary and Benefits Report

A report of the findings of The NonProfit Times’ 2025 Nonprofit Organizations Salary and Benefits Survey.Pay: Base salary, bonus and total cash · Price: $475

A report of the findings of The NonProfit Times’ 2025 Nonprofit Organizations Salary and Benefits Survey.

Built from: A survey. The results come from organizations that employ 38,304 people.
Pay measure: Base salary, bonus practices and total cash compensation.
Coverage: 243 positions from entry level to the executive office, and 94 benefit offerings, by location, operating budget, number of employees and field of work.
Format: A report. A sample section is posted.
Updates: Not published. The report tracks changes from 2023 to 2025.
Price: $475.

From The NonProfit Times, 2025 Nonprofit Organizations Salary and Benefits Report, read October 25, 2026.

MRA, Nonprofit Compensation Survey

A survey report on the pay and benefits commonly found in nonprofit organizations.Pay: Not published · Price: $599 for members, $1,199 for others

A survey report on the pay and benefits commonly found in nonprofit organizations.

Built from: A survey of 164 participating organizations, conducted October to November 2025.
Pay measure: Not published
Coverage: 168 jobs.
Format: A report. Its table of contents, a sample page and the executive summary are posted.
Updates: Not published. The current edition was published in March 2026.
Price: $599 per person for MRA members, $1,199 per person for non-members.

From MRA, 2026 Nonprofit Compensation Survey, read October 25, 2026.

Payscale, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Non-Profit Organization salary page

A salary page for one job title, built from salary profiles.Pay: Base salary, with total pay ranges · Price: Not published

A salary page for one job title, built from salary profiles.

Built from: Salary profiles. The page says it is based on 367 of them.
Pay measure: Base salary, with bonus, profit sharing and total pay shown as ranges.
Coverage: One job title, nationally, with pay by years of experience.
Format: A web page.
Updates: The page says it was last updated Oct 07 2026.
Price: Not published

From Payscale, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Non-Profit Organization, read October 25, 2026.

Peer-set tools

A peer-set tool lets you choose organizations by sector, budget, location and role, then shows pay statistics for that set. The tools differ in more than price, so check which years each one covers and whether it shows the amounts as filed or figures adjusted or modeled from them. If the board will want to see which organizations it’s being compared with, check that the tool lists them, too. The guide to setting nonprofit executive compensation explains how to choose the organizations and take their figures to the board.

Cause IQ

A nonprofit data platform. Its Pro plan includes benchmarking.Pay: Not published · Price: Pro, $5,988 a year ($4,488 for 501(c)(3)s)

A nonprofit data platform. Its Pro plan includes benchmarking.

Built from: Not published on the pricing page. Its profiles carry Form 990 information.
Pay measure: Not published
Coverage: Benchmark reports compare up to 250 organizations with their peers, or compare executive pay for specific roles.
Format: Web-based and downloadable Excel reports, with the raw data behind the results.
Updates: Not published
Price: Benchmarking is in Pro, at $5,988 a year, or $4,488 a year for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The Free and Core plans do not include it.

From Cause IQ, pricing, read October 25, 2026.

ERI Economic Research Institute, Nonprofit Comparables Assessor

Subscription software for nonprofit executive pay benchmarks.Pay: Competitive cash compensation, adjusted · Price: Not published

Subscription software for nonprofit executive pay benchmarks.

Built from: Compensation data from nonprofit organizations’ IRS Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF. Peer groups can include for-profit data.
Pay measure: Competitive cash compensation, adjusted for nonprofit industry and organization size.
Coverage: 55 executive positions and 600 industry sectors.
Format: Interactive graphs and tables, benchmark reports and exportable custom reports.
Updates: ERI says its Assessor platform releases new datasets every six weeks.
Price: Not published. ERI offers a free demo.

From ERI, Nonprofit Comparables Assessor and ERI, Nonprofit Executive Compensation, read October 25, 2026.

CauseComp

Nonprofit executive and staff pay benchmarks, sold as a one-time report or a subscription.Pay: Total, with Schedule J parts · Price: $349 a report; $588 or $996 a year

Nonprofit executive and staff pay benchmarks, sold as a one-time report or a subscription.

Built from: Executive pay from Form 990 (Part VII and Schedule J) and Form 990-EZ, fiscal years 2016 through 2025 plus some early 2026 filings. Staff pay from federal wage surveys.
Pay measure: Total compensation, split into base, bonus and other parts where Schedule J reports them. Executive figures come from a statistical model of the filings. CauseComp’s §4958 comparables set is drawn separately and, in its words, does not produce the figure.
Coverage: Executive benchmarks modeled to budget, sector and location, and 850+ staff roles.
Format: A PDF report with a comparables set and a methodology appendix, Excel exports, and on Professional an API and a Claude and ChatGPT connector.
Updates: Quarterly. CauseComp says the data was last refreshed in October 2026.
Price: Board Report $349 one time. Essential $588 a year or $59 a month. Professional $996 a year, or $297 for the first month and then $99 a month. Consultant pricing on request.

From CauseComp, pricing and CauseComp, methodology, read October 25, 2026.

990Search

An online builder for nonprofit compensation reports, from IRS Form 990 data.Pay: Total, including related organizations · Price: $9.90 a report; $50 a month or $490 a year

An online builder for nonprofit compensation reports, from IRS Form 990 data.

Built from: IRS Form 990 filings, filing years 2014–2025. The current report edition, 2026, uses fiscal year 2024 filings.
Pay measure: A comparable total that keeps pay reported from the filing organization, related organizations and other reportable components.
Coverage: Roles, organization type, charity category, budget, assets and location (nationwide, regional, state and county).
Format: Reports built online, to print or save.
Updates: Not published as a schedule. Each report edition names the IRS filing year it uses.
Price: $9.90 for one report, $50 a month or $490 a year for unlimited reports.

From 990Search and 990Search, plans, read October 25, 2026.

Kindora, Nonprofit Salary Benchmarks

A free nonprofit salary calculator, with paid plans for more detail.Pay: Total compensation (shown as medians) · Price: Free; paid plans from $25 a month

A free nonprofit salary calculator, with paid plans for more detail.

Built from: IRS Form 990 Part VII filings, with 342,927 compensation records from 186,890 nonprofits, as of September 2026.
Pay measure: Median total compensation.
Coverage: 14 standard leadership roles, assigned by an AI model, by state, metro area, cause area and budget size. Cells with fewer than 5 filings are not published.
Format: An online calculator. Paid plans add a shareable PDF board report and API and MCP access.
Updates: Kindora says it refreshes the records as new filings are released.
Price: Free, no login. Paid plans from $25 a month.

From Kindora, Nonprofit Salary Benchmarks, read October 25, 2026.

Lucido

A nonprofit compensation search, with median and percentile statistics.Pay: Columns D and F from the organization · Price: Free; Pro $54.99 a month or $449 a year

A nonprofit compensation search, with median and percentile statistics.

Built from: IRS Form 990 filings.
Pay measure: Reportable compensation from the organization plus other compensation from the organization (Part VII). Pay from related organizations is not included.
Coverage: Free accounts see data through 2022. Pro adds 2023–2024 data and benchmarks by segment.
Format: Online search, custom comparison lists and CSV export.
Updates: Monthly. Lucido says there is typically an 18-month lag between filing and the data becoming available.
Price: Free. Pro is $54.99 a month or $449 a year.

From Lucido, pricing and Lucido, methodology, read October 25, 2026.

NonprofitExecPay

Executive pay benchmarks and PDF salary reports by subscription.Pay: Total, as filed and trended · Price: $79 a month

Executive pay benchmarks and PDF salary reports by subscription.

Built from: IRS Form 990 series filings, with a benchmarking database of 130,000+ nonprofits.
Pay measure: Total compensation as filed, and estimates trended to the latest quarter with the BLS Employment Cost Index. Schedule J parts where filed.
Coverage: 16 leadership roles, by sector, revenue range, employee count and geography (national, census region, state or metro area), with percentiles from P10 to P90.
Format: On screen and as a downloadable PDF.
Updates: Monthly.
Price: $79 a month.

From NonprofitExecPay, read October 25, 2026.

PeerSetOur product

A free benchmarking tool built on IRS Form 990 data. You choose a sector, budget, geography and role, then see the pay percentiles for that peer set.Pay: Column D only · Price: Free

A free benchmarking tool built on IRS Form 990 data. You choose a sector, budget, geography and role, then see the pay percentiles for that peer set.

Built from: Form 990 and 990-EZ returns filed electronically, for the three most recent tax years in the data, as the organizations reported them.
Pay measure: Column D only, reportable compensation from the organization.
Coverage: 13 roles, by sector, budget, state or metro area, and organization type. Only the people a Form 990 lists appear, which are officers, directors, trustees, key employees and the highest compensated employees.
Format: Results on screen, a Benchmark Summary PDF and, with a free account, a CSV.
Updates: Form 990 filings typically lag 12–24 months after fiscal year end. Each result names the month of the newest IRS data it holds (September 2026 when this page was reviewed).
Price: Free. No account required; a free account adds the CSV.

See the PeerSet methodology.

Figures come from filings that organizations reported themselves; we have not verified them and do not guarantee they are accurate, complete or current. Informational only; not legal, tax or compensation advice. Use is subject to peerset.org/terms.

For Form 990 figures by budget size, see executive director and CEO salary by budget size. When you are ready to compare your own organization, build a peer set in PeerSet.

Last reviewed October 25, 2026. If something here about your product is wrong or out of date, write to help@peerset.org and we will correct it. Product names are trademarks of their owners.

Sources

Build your own comparability study

Build a peer set from IRS Form 990 filings and download a Benchmark Summary PDF.

Start benchmarking