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Updated through 2024NTEE D · Animal-Related

Animal-Related nonprofitExecutive Director salaries

Based on 2,096 organizations from 2021 – 2024. Each org counted once at its most recent filing. Sourced directly from IRS Form 990, Schedule J.

Median total compensation
$74,974
The median animal-related executive director earns $74,974 in total reported compensation.
25th pct
$41k
75th pct
$124k
90th pct
$210k
2,096 organizations · 2021 – 2024
Percentile distribution

Where the middle 50% lands.

Half earn between $41k and $124k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $210k, roughly 2.8 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.

PercentileTotal compMeans
90th$210,120Top 10% of earners
75th$124,30625% earn more than this
50th · median$74,974The typical executive
25th$41,23625% earn less than this
10th$17,66710% of executives earn less than this
How pay is structured

How the package is built.

The typical pay structure across 392 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (19% of the 2,096 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%.

$217,394
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.
87%
Base salary
86.5% of total
$188,046
Bonus & incentive
4.4% of total
$9,565
Retirement & deferred
3.4% of total
$7,391
Benefits
4.1% of total
$8,913
Other reportable
1.3% of total
$2,826
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.

Executive DirectorThis page
$74,974
CFO
$115,967
COO
$131,568
Development Director
$148,256

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

Geography

Pay varies by state.

Maryland pays $30,166 more than the median Executive Director compensation in animal-related nationally.

Top-paying organizations

The ten highest-paid animal-related Executive Directors by filing.

#OrganizationLocationTotal compensationFiling year
01Zoological Society Of San DiegoSan Diego, CA$1,860,7772023
02American Kennel Club IncNew York, NY$1,611,5602023
03National Fish And Wildlife FoundationWashington, DC$1,418,9152023
04The American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To AnimalsNew York, NY$1,203,2672023
05The Animal Medical CenterNew York, NY$1,125,8952023
06Shedd Aquarium SocietyChicago, IL$935,0932023
07Georgia Aquarium Inc & SubsidiaryAtlanta, GA$912,1922023
08Atlanta Fulton County Zoo IncAtlanta, GA$846,9512024
09Chicago Zoological SocietyBrookfield, IL$839,4392023
10Audubon Nature Institute IncNew Orleans, LA$832,0992023

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 Executive Director compensation for animal-related nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.

Your organization's revenue
~$6M
annual revenue
$0$10M$100M$1B+
Median Executive Director comp · $1M – $10M
$102,152
860 organizations in this band
Percentile range for your band
25th percentile$59,248
50th percentile$102,152
75th percentile$151,185