Skip to main content
Updated through 2024NTEE C · Environment

Environment nonprofitDevelopment Director salaries

Based on 126 organizations from 2021 – 2024. Each org counted once at its most recent filing. Sourced directly from IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Median total compensation
$147,196
The median environment development director earns $147,196 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$119k
75th pct
$180k
90th pct
$249k
126 organizations · 2021 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $119k and $180k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $249k, roughly 1.7 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$248,702Top 10% of earners
75th$179,95225% earn more than this
50th · median$147,196The typical executive
25th$119,35225% earn less than this
10th$102,84610% of executives earn less than this
How pay is structured

How the package is built.

The typical pay structure across 57 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (45% of the 126 orgs in this slice). Each share is the average across orgs of the fraction of total comp that goes to this component, so the bar fills 100%.

$190,385
typical total · 2024
Median total compensation in the subset. The dollar amounts below show what each share works out to on a package this size.
86%
Base salary
86.1% of total
$163,921
Bonus & incentive
2.4% of total
$4,569
Retirement & deferred
3.2% of total
$6,092
Benefits
7.0% of total
$13,327
Other reportable
1.3% of total
$2,475
Shares are averaged across organizations, so they sum to ~100%. Dollar amounts are illustrative (share% of typical total) and don't reflect any specific org.
How this compares

The number in context.

Every row links to its own dedicated benchmark page.

Development DirectorThis page
$147,196
Executive Director
$99,893
CFO
$119,554
COO
$144,954

All figures are median total reported compensation · IRS Form 990, Schedule J

Geography

Pay varies by state.

State-level medians for Development Directors in environment, ranked by typical pay.

Top 10 states · Environment Development Director median
Top-paying organizations

The ten highest-paid environment Development Directors by filing.

#OrganizationLocationTotal compensationFiling year
01Massachusetts Audubon Society IncLincoln, MA$345,4372023
02Chicago Horticultural SocietyGlencoe, IL$334,1832024
03Ceres IncBoston, MA$329,9722023
04Serc Reliability CorporationCharlotte, NC$308,7012023
05Save The Redwoods LeagueSan Francisco, CA$294,0192023
06The Sunrise Project IncWilmington, DE$286,0702023
07Coastal Conservation AssociationHouston, TX$269,3032023
08Tennessee Wildlife Federation IncNashville, TN$268,1362023
09The Recycling Partnership IncWashington, DC$260,4972024
10Desert Botanical Garden IncPhoenix, AZ$251,9102023

Total includes base, bonus, other reportable, and deferred/retirement compensation per Schedule J.

Compare your organization

What does a $X org pay?

Adjust the slider to your organization's revenue. The median Development Director compensation for environment nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.

Your organization's revenue
~$6M
annual revenue
$0$10M$100M$1B+
Median Development Director comp · $1M – $10M
$132,600
59 organizations in this band
Percentile range for your band
25th percentile$76,908
50th percentile$132,600
75th percentile$196,248