Happy Wednesday, nonprofit communications leaders.
Have you ever wondered if your salary is below or above the market rate? Have you ever tried to figure out what the market rate is for a nonprofit comms leader like yourself?
I remember trying to do this at a few points in my career. When I was negotiating with my boss while moving from a 30-hour-a-week contract role to a full-time marketing director, I had no idea what I was "supposed to be paid" at an organization with a $4M budget and I sure as heck didn't advocate hard enough for the pay that went with the director title. But I was inexperienced and there was no clear data out there for what our sector paid.
Another time, I was moving into a VP of comms role that was being downgraded in title only, but not responsibility. All VP roles were changing to director titles as part of a structural change, but all directors served in the same capacity as the previous VP roles and sat at the senior leadership table. This definitely made things more difficult for me when I was negotiating salary for that new role where I'd be leading the entire comms function and managing a team of about 6 people.
That's twice in one career that I negotiated with nothing but guesses. (And there's a 3rd example I'm not even covering here.) I don't want that for you. Especially not when you're advocating for your own raise at an organization you love, and for sure not when you're negotiating salary for a new role.
So... I created a report to help each of us in the nonprofit comms industry know exactly where we land. And that report is LIVE today!
โก๏ธ DOWNLOAD THE 2026 NONPROFIT COMMS SALARY REPORTโ
This has been a real joy to put together over the last few months. 231 nonprofit comms leaders filled out my survey and reported on their salary, benefits, budget, team size, and more. Before you dig into the report, I want to point out some of the findings that I felt were key:
- The biggest surprise: the average base salary was $92K. I really thought it would be lower so I was pleasantly surprised. However, the median salary is only somewhere between $70Kโ$85K, and most of the field earns between $55Kโ$100K. While I'm glad fewer people are earning on that lower end than I expected, 29% earn below $70K and 29% earn above $100K. That is encouraging for those of you who love working in nonprofit comms but want to earn more. The potential is there, you just need the right skills and the right nonprofit.
- Your org's budget really matters: If you're at an org under $1 million, average pay is only $67,500. If your org has a $100 million budget, that average is now $126K. My advice is to make sure you understand your nonprofit's operating budget and assess whether your salary aligns. If you're looking to change nonprofits, use a tool like GuideStar (now Candid) to look up the 990 for any organization you're considering. If you're hoping to earn $125K but the role you're applying for is at a $2 million org, that salary might not be attainable.
- Titles matter when it comes to pay: I know I've said your title doesn't matter. And I stand by that in terms of thinking like a CCO. Because even if you don't have the title, I want you to learn how to think like one. But when it comes to pay... your title really freaking matters. Directors earn significantly more than managers, and executive-level roles (think VP, Senior Director, or CCO) earn even more.
- Managing others = more pay: If you enjoy leading a team, that's a great way to earn more. Moving from manager to director alone is worth about $30,000 a year. That's a different pay tier entirely.
- Remote and hybrid roles look like they pay more but.... This one surprised me and I really wanted it to be true. But when I dug in, most of that gap is because remote roles just tend to go to more senior people, not because working from home pays better. What I will say is that fully in-person roles really do sit at the lower end of the market. So if you want to work from home AND earn more, you're going to want to level up those comms skills.
- Praise hands: 80% of nonprofit comms leaders get health insurance mostly covered. While I'd love to see this higher, this is a step in the right direction.
I hope this report serves you well. A member of the Nonprofit Comms Club already DMed me and said,
"I shared the first look of your nonprofit report with my new boss and he came in to my office to ask where I fell on that scale....was shocked & appalled when I told him I didn't even make the low end of the median."
This person also shared that they're approaching budget season for next year so it made my day that this report can possibly help with a pay increase for next year!
Above all I want you to hear me say this: you are not selfish for wanting to be paid a fair market price while working at a nonprofit.
Just because you work at a nonprofit does not mean you should sacrifice yourself for the good of the mission. Any mission worth doing is worth doing WELL, and that means the sector needs good people who stick around, but right now we lose a lot of them to corporate jobs that pay what they're worth.
So when a nonprofit underpays you, it isn't protecting the mission at all, it's just costing the mission the talent it needs.
It's not that I think money is all that matters. It's that as employees, we're also human beings who have lives and people to care for. Many people are willing to work for a little less in order to do meaningful work, but that shouldn't mean taking a salary you can't live on or sustain.
I guessed my way through this twice and left money on the table both times. I'd love for you to skip that part entirely so download the report and walk into your next salary conversation knowing exactly what the market pays.
Happy communicating,
Founder of the Nonprofit Comms Club, former nonprofit CCO
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P.S. I'm releasing this to the public on LinkedIn tomorrow. You got it first because you're on this list. If you see the post, a share goes a long way, and if you'd rather just send someone straight to it, the landing page is here.โ
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