Which nonprofit compensation data sources should you use?
Use the source that fits the decision—not the source with the biggest database. For nonprofit executive pay, Candid and Form 990 data can provide sector and peer context. ProPublica makes Form 990 research easier. BLS wage data can help with roles that compete across sectors. Employer salary surveys, custom peer studies, and internal compensation data fill different gaps.
The strongest analysis usually combines multiple sources and documents why each one fits the job, labor market, geography, organization size, data period, and compensation measure.
Practitioner lens: JER HR Group has more than 40 years of compensation consulting experience and has worked with 400+ nonprofit organizations. Use this page for source selection; use the salary-survey quality criteria for methodology review and the nonprofit benchmarking guide for implementation.
Nonprofit compensation data is useful only when it is relevant to the decision being made. A report can contain thousands of organizations and still be a weak benchmark for a particular role if the job match, geography, organization size, compensation definition, or data period does not fit.
This guide compares the strongest types of nonprofit compensation data available in 2026, explains what each source can and cannot tell you, and shows how to combine sources without treating any one database as a universal market answer.
Reviewed September 22, 2026. This guide is intended for nonprofit HR leaders, executives, finance leaders, compensation committees, and boards evaluating compensation data.
Which nonprofit compensation data sources are most useful?
The right source depends on the decision. Executive compensation research often starts with nonprofit-specific reports and Form 990 data. Staff roles may require employer salary surveys or broader occupation-level labor-market data. Specialized roles or unusually defined peer groups may require a custom study.
| Source | Best use | Access / coverage | Main limitation to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Candid Nonprofit Compensation Report | Executive and leadership compensation context within nonprofit populations | Paid report using FY2024 IRS data from 119,701 nonprofits and 14 leadership positions | Role scope, organization size, geography and the lag between the reported fiscal year and the decision date |
| IRS Form 990 and Schedule J | Primary-source reported compensation and governance research | Public tax filings for applicable tax-exempt organizations | Historical reporting, compensation definitions, fiscal-year differences and peer comparability |
| ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer | Quickly locating nonprofit filings, reported executive pay, revenue and expense context | Searchable interface covering millions of nonprofit annual returns | It organizes tax-return data; it is not a job-matched salary survey |
| BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | Cross-sector occupations that compete in broader labor markets | Free occupation-level wage data by national, state, metro and industry cuts | Not nonprofit-specific and does not replace role-level market matching |
| Published employer salary surveys | Recurring market pricing for jobs with reliable benchmark descriptions and relevant participants | Varies by survey provider, geography, industry and job family | Participant mix, job definitions, effective date, sample size and pay-element definitions |
| Custom salary survey or defined peer study | Specialized jobs, regional markets or a specific peer group not covered well by published sources | Designed around the organization’s approved peer criteria | Participant coverage, confidentiality, methodology, response quality and cost |
| Internal compensation data | Compression, range placement, internal relationships and implementation impact | Organization-specific workforce data | Internal data is essential context but does not replace external market evidence |
Need to turn several data sources into one defensible benchmark?
JER HR Group can help define the labor market, validate job matches, document peer criteria, and convert multiple sources into decision-ready compensation findings.
Explore Nonprofit Compensation Studies →1. Candid nonprofit compensation data
Source note: The 2026 Candid Nonprofit Compensation Report uses fiscal-year 2024 IRS Form 990 and 990-EZ data from 119,701 nonprofits and analyzes compensation for 14 executive leadership positions. It provides cuts by factors such as budget size, cause area, geography and gender.
Candid is particularly useful for executive and leadership-pay context within nonprofit populations. It can help organizations understand how reported compensation varies across comparable nonprofit groups and can support early-stage peer research.
Its limitation is the same one that applies to any broad report: the user still has to decide whether the role, scale, geography, organization complexity and compensation elements match the decision being made. A published percentile should not automatically become an individual salary recommendation.
2. IRS Form 990 and Schedule J
Primary-source reference: The IRS explains the compensation information reported through Form 990 Part VII and Schedule J. Review the reporting definitions before comparing organizations or interpreting a compensation figure.
Form 990 is the primary public source behind many nonprofit executive-compensation databases. Part VII identifies compensation for specified officers, directors, trustees, key employees and certain highly compensated employees; Schedule J provides additional compensation information for organizations and individuals that meet its filing rules.
Form 990 data can support peer research, executive-compensation analysis and board documentation, but it is historical. Organizations can have different fiscal years, compensation categories require careful interpretation, and two nonprofits with similar missions may differ materially in operating scale, workforce, geography or executive scope.
For executive-pay decisions, see JER HR Group’s executive compensation consulting and nonprofit board governance consulting.
3. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is useful when HR, a board member or an adviser needs a practical way to locate Form 990 filings and view reported executive compensation alongside organizational revenue, expenses and filing documents.
Its strength is usability and access to underlying nonprofit filings. Its limitation is methodological: it is a search and research interface for tax-return data, not a compensation survey. The same job-match, data-age, peer-selection and compensation-definition cautions that apply to Form 990 still apply here.
4. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program provides occupation-level employment and wage estimates at national, state, metropolitan/nonmetropolitan and industry levels.
This is useful when a nonprofit role competes broadly across sectors. Finance, technology, HR, clinical, operations and other professional jobs may recruit from a labor market that is much larger than the nonprofit sector.
BLS data should not be used as if it were a nonprofit executive-compensation database. It is best treated as a broader labor-market reference that can be combined with nonprofit-specific data and employer survey evidence when appropriate.
5. Other IRS-derived nonprofit compensation analyses
Additional research providers can add useful interpretation to Form 990 data. For example, the 2026 CauseComp Nonprofit Compensation Report analyzes a large set of IRS-derived compensation records and focuses explicitly on the lag between filed compensation and the current decision year.
Use analyses like this as a secondary lens rather than assuming a provider’s modeled or projected market automatically fits the organization. Review the provider’s methodology, source years, projection approach and peer definitions before relying on its conclusions.
6. Published employer salary surveys
Published salary surveys can be valuable when they contain the right jobs and relevant participating organizations. Review the actual benchmark description rather than matching on title alone.
Check whether the survey reflects the geographic market, organization size, function, level and compensation elements relevant to the role. Also verify the effective date, participant mix, sample size and any aging methodology.
For a detailed quality test, use JER HR Group’s six criteria for evaluating salary survey data. That article owns the survey-methodology question; this guide focuses on choosing among source types.
7. Custom salary surveys and defined peer studies
When published data is too broad, too old or does not contain reliable job matches, a custom survey can collect information from a defined peer group. This can be particularly useful for specialized positions, unusual organizational models, regional markets or roles whose responsibilities differ from standard survey benchmarks.
JER HR Group’s salary survey consulting supports organizations that need a more specific market dataset.
Do not skip internal compensation data
External market evidence answers only part of the question. Internal data is necessary for reviewing current salary-range placement, compression, employee-manager relationships, promotion relationships, outliers and the cost of possible adjustments.
Internal data cannot tell you what the external labor market pays, but external data cannot tell you whether a proposed recommendation creates an internal-structure problem. A sound compensation study uses both.
For the full workflow from scope through implementation, use the seven-step compensation study process.
How to evaluate any nonprofit compensation source
Keep this evaluation concise and documented. For each source, record:
- Job match: Does the benchmark reflect the actual responsibilities and level?
- Population: Which organizations, industries or ownership groups are represented?
- Geography: Does the source reflect the relevant recruiting market?
- Organization context: Are size, budget, workforce and complexity relevant where they matter?
- Effective date: How old is the compensation information, and has any aging or projection been applied?
- Pay definition: Is the figure base salary, total cash, reportable compensation or another measure?
- Sample and methodology: Are sample size, data collection and calculation methods clear enough to support the decision?
For deeper methodology, see Market Pay & Salary Survey Data: 6 Quality Criteria.
How to build a defensible nonprofit peer group
A peer group should be selected because the organizations are relevant to the compensation decision, not because their names are familiar. Depending on the role, useful factors can include:
- Job responsibilities and organizational level
- Mission or sector where relevant
- Operating budget or revenue
- Organization complexity and workforce size
- Geographic labor market
- Population or constituency served
- Program and operating scope
- Sources from which the organization recruits comparable talent
Different roles may require different peer markets. A local program role and a national finance executive should not automatically use the same comparator set. For a complete benchmarking and range-design workflow, use JER HR Group’s nonprofit pay benchmarking and salary-range guide.
What Form 990 data cannot tell you by itself
Public filings do not explain every factor behind a compensation decision. They may not show the complete job scope, current performance expectations, recruiting market, internal salary structure, current-year changes or why a board selected a particular peer group.
Use public data as evidence, not as an automatic salary recommendation.
Boards formalizing how comparability evidence is reviewed can also use JER HR Group’s nonprofit compensation committee guide and nonprofit compensation policy template.
When public nonprofit compensation data is not enough
Additional analysis is usually needed when jobs have materially changed, published matches are weak, multiple labor markets apply, internal compression is a concern, salary ranges need redesign or the board needs documented executive-pay comparability evidence.
A formal nonprofit compensation study can connect external market data with job matching, internal relationships, salary structures and decision-ready recommendations. For broader advisory support, see nonprofit compensation consulting.
Nonprofit compensation data-source checklist
- ☐ Is the job match based on responsibilities rather than title alone?
- ☐ Is the data recent enough for the decision?
- ☐ Is the geography relevant?
- ☐ Are organization size and complexity considered where appropriate?
- ☐ Is the compensation definition clear?
- ☐ Is the sample sufficiently relevant?
- ☐ Are methodology and data-source limitations understood?
- ☐ Are multiple sources needed?
- ☐ Is internal compensation data being reviewed alongside market data?
- ☐ Is the rationale for selected comparators documented?
Frequently asked questions
What is the best source for nonprofit salary data?
There is no universal best source. The right source depends on the job, labor market, geography, organization context, data age, methodology and decision being made. Strong analyses often combine more than one relevant source.
Can nonprofits use Form 990 data for salary benchmarking?
Form 990 data can provide useful reported-compensation and peer context, particularly for executive roles, but it should be evaluated for relevance, definitions, reporting lag and peer comparability and should not be treated as a complete market-pricing method by itself.
Is ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer a compensation survey?
No. Nonprofit Explorer is a searchable interface for nonprofit tax-return data. It is useful for finding Form 990 filings and reported executive compensation, but it does not replace a job-matched compensation survey.
When is BLS wage data useful for a nonprofit?
BLS OEWS data can be useful for occupations that compete across sectors because it provides occupation-level wage estimates by geography and industry. It should be combined with job matching and nonprofit-specific context where needed.
Should nonprofits benchmark only against other nonprofits?
No. Some roles compete primarily in nonprofit markets, while others compete across nonprofit, public and private-sector employers. The relevant labor market should reflect where comparable talent is recruited.
When should a nonprofit commission a custom salary survey?
A custom survey may be appropriate when published data does not provide reliable job matches, the peer market is unusually specific or leadership needs information from a defined group of comparable organizations.
Turn compensation data into a decision
Market data is the evidence layer. The decision still requires job analysis, internal context, compensation strategy, financial judgment and appropriate governance.
Need a defensible nonprofit compensation benchmark?
JER HR Group helps nonprofits select relevant data, validate peer groups, benchmark roles, review salary structures, and prepare decision-ready findings for leadership and boards.
Talk to a Nonprofit Compensation Consultant →This article provides general compensation and governance information and is not legal or tax advice. Organizations should use qualified advisers for organization-specific legal or tax questions.
