How much does a nonprofit CFO make?
Nonprofits report this pay the same way whether you search for nonprofit CFO salary, non profit CFO salary, or CFO pay at a nonprofit. Most of the spread between the low and high ends of the range reflects organization size, so the nonprofit's budget matters more than the overall median.
These figures come from the pay each organization most recently reported to the IRS on its annual return, which tax-exempt organizations sign under penalty of perjury. Each organization counts once, using its latest reported pay. Nothing here is modeled, estimated, or projected.
Why nonprofit CFO pay varies so widely
Organization budget is the single biggest factor. A CFO who oversees a few million dollars and a CFO who runs the finances of a large hospital or university hold very different jobs, and the pay gap between them is larger than for state, sector, or tenure. In this data, the median CFO at a nonprofit with revenue under $1M earns $13k, while at organizations with revenue over $1B the median rises to $491k.
Sector and location come next. Hospitals, universities, and national foundations pay their finance chiefs more than community nonprofits of similar headcount, and high cost-of-living metros pay more than rural areas. Use the breakdowns below to filter by the size, state, and sector that match the organization you are benchmarking. Among states with enough organizations to compare, District of Columbia reports the highest median nonprofit CFO pay at $169,996.
How does CFO pay scale with org size?
Median pay by nonprofit annual revenue. The shaded area shows the 25th to 75th percentile for CFOs, and the dashed lines show the other roles charted for comparison. Hover for details.
How does CFO pay compare to other roles?
Median pay for related nonprofit roles.
Nonprofit CFO pay compared with the corporate sector
Searches for average CFO salary usually surface corporate figures, and they are not a fair comparison. CFOs at large public and venture-backed companies earn several times the nonprofit median, much of it in equity that tax-exempt organizations cannot offer. Because this page draws only from what nonprofits reported to the IRS, it shows what nonprofits actually pay, which is the right benchmark for a nonprofit role.
Where are nonprofit CFO positions concentrated?
Cities with the most nonprofits that pay a CFO.
CFO Pay by State
States with the highest median pay for nonprofit CFOs.
CFO Pay by Organization Size
Median CFO pay at nonprofits grouped by annual revenue.
CFO Pay by Sector
Median CFO pay across nonprofit sectors with enough organizations to compare.
Compare CFO pay
Enter a CFO pay package to see how it ranks against other nonprofit CFOs nationally. We will also email you a detailed breakdown and set up a free account.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a nonprofit CFO make?
- The median pay for a nonprofit CFO is $87,592, based on 39,507 chief financial officers across the sector. The middle half earn between $22,576 and $171,658, and the best-paid one in ten make $272,547 or more. Every number here is total pay: base pay plus bonus and other reportable amounts, not base salary alone.
- How does nonprofit CFO pay change with organization size?
- Pay rises with the size of the organization. At nonprofits with revenue under $1M, the median is $13,454. At nonprofits with revenue over $1B, it is $490,810.
- Why does organization budget matter so much for CFO pay?
- Larger nonprofits handle more complex finances, larger teams, and greater regulatory requirements, so the same role is a bigger job at a large organization. A CFO at a large health system or university has a fundamentally different job than one at a small community nonprofit. Reported pay reflects this: it scales with organizational complexity, not just revenue. Geographic cost of living and sector also play significant roles.
- Which states pay nonprofit CFOs the most?
- District of Columbia leads with a median of $169,996, followed by Alaska at $125,586 and Wyoming at $119,544. Higher-paying states generally have higher costs of living and larger concentrations of well-funded nonprofits.
- How is this data different from pay surveys?
- Most pay data online comes from self-reported surveys or job posting estimates. This data comes from the pay nonprofits report to the IRS on annual returns, which are legal documents filed under penalty of perjury. Every tax-exempt organization that files a full annual return must report pay for its officers, directors, trustees, and key employees, and for its highest-paid employees above a threshold. The result is a more complete and reliable dataset than voluntary survey responses.
- How does CFO pay compare to other nonprofit roles?
- The median nonprofit CFO earns $87,592. Related roles: Controller at $98,571, Executive Director at $89,386, Accounting Manager at $76,250, Finance Manager at $73,773. Differences reflect scope of responsibility, market demand, and typical organization size for each role.
- How do I know if I'm underpaid as a nonprofit CFO?
- Compare your total pay to the range. The median nonprofit CFO earns $87,592, with the middle half between $22,576 and $171,658. If your pay sits below $22,576, you are in the bottom quarter for the role nationally and may be underpaid; if it is above $171,658, you are in the top quarter. Organization size and location move these numbers a lot, so benchmark against nonprofits of similar budget and region before drawing conclusions.