Where the middle 50% lands.
Half earn between $49k and $155k. That band is the interquartile range. The 90th percentile sits at $249k, roughly 2.7 times the median. That upper tail is where the largest organizations cluster.
| Percentile | Total comp | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90th | $249,263 | Top 10% of earners |
| 75th | $155,000 | 25% earn more than this |
| 50th · median | $94,046 | The typical executive |
| 25th | $48,937 | 25% earn less than this |
| 10th | $21,300 | 10% of executives earn less than this |
How the package is built.
The typical pay structure across 497 organizations with full Schedule J reporting (29% of the 1,701 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%.
The number in context.
Every row links to its own dedicated benchmark page.
All figures are median total reported compensation · IRS Form 990, Schedule J
Pay varies by state.
District of Columbia pays $50,454 more than the median Executive Director compensation in civil rights, social action & advocacy nationally.
The ten highest-paid civil rights, social action & advocacy Executive Directors by filing.
| # | Organization | Location | Total compensation | Filing year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Aarp | Washington, DC | $2,871,820 | 2024 |
| 02 | Flourish Collective | Danville, CA | $1,158,990 | 2024 |
| 03 | Anti-Defamation League | New York, NY | $1,103,755 | 2023 |
| 04 | Oneten Coalition Inc | Montclair, NJ | $1,038,734 | 2023 |
| 05 | National Rifle Association Of America | Fairfax, VA | $945,929 | 2024 |
| 06 | Naacp Empowerment Programs Inc | Baltimore, MD | $890,918 | 2024 |
| 07 | Institute For Justice | Arlington, VA | $859,654 | 2024 |
| 08 | American Jewish Committee | New York, NY | $856,157 | 2023 |
| 09 | Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Inc | New York, NY | $831,602 | 2024 |
| 10 | Uniswap Foundation | New York, NY | $799,726 | 2024 |
Total includes base, bonus, other reportable, and deferred/retirement compensation per Schedule J.
What does a $X org pay?
Adjust the slider to your organization's revenue. The median Executive Director compensation for civil rights, social action & advocacy nonprofits in that revenue band updates live.
{sector} {role} pay, answered
- How much does a Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy nonprofit Executive Director make?
- The median total compensation for a Executive Director at a civil rights, social action & advocacy nonprofit is $94,046, based on 1,701 organizations in IRS Form 990 filings. The middle 50% fall between $48,937 and $155,000.
- What is the salary range for a Executive Director in Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy nonprofits?
- Pay ranges from $48,937 at the 25th percentile to $155,000 at the 75th and $249,263 at the 90th. The spread reflects differences in organization size, budget, and region within the sector.
- Is this Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy compensation data reliable?
- Yes. It comes from IRS Form 990 filings, legal documents filed under penalty of perjury, not self-reported surveys. Figures cover 1,701 civil rights, social action & advocacy nonprofits reporting a Executive Director.
- Why does Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy nonprofit Executive Director pay differ from other sectors?
- Compensation reflects the typical organization size, revenue, and operating complexity of each sector. Larger, better-funded civil rights, social action & advocacy organizations pull the upper percentiles higher, while smaller ones anchor the lower end.