What $250K to $500K in revenue means for Executive Director pay
Nonprofits with $250K to $500K in annual revenue are growing organizations with defined programs and a small team. An Executive Director here builds the systems and reporting that a larger organization will depend on.
Across all nonprofit executive directors nationally, the median is $89,386. At organizations with $250K to $500K in revenue, executive directors earn about $31,461 less than that.
Executive Director pay across organization sizes
How median Executive Director compensation scales with nonprofit revenue. Each size band is its own benchmark.
| Org revenue | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $100K | $9,600 | $21,850 | $39,972 | $63,515 | 9,875 |
| $100K–$250K | $18,508 | $39,433 | $62,308 | $85,000 | 18,356 |
| $250K–$500K | $30,000 | $57,925 | $84,119 | $116,008 | 21,088 |
| $500K–$1M | $47,017 | $78,000 | $110,255 | $154,872 | 21,850 |
| $1M–$3M | $70,597 | $107,342 | $154,387 | $218,017 | 30,897 |
| $3M–$10M | $105,973 | $157,068 | $225,295 | $328,234 | 23,826 |
| $10M–$30M | $150,596 | $221,445 | $318,549 | $464,604 | 12,560 |
| $30M–$100M | $209,398 | $325,331 | $481,567 | $717,574 | 6,725 |
| Over $100M | $263,533 | $542,017 | $966,326 | $1,808,411 | 4,149 |
Explore other sizes
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a nonprofit Executive Director at $250K–$500K organizations make?
- The median total compensation is $57,925, based on 21,088 IRS Form 990 filings from nonprofits with $250K to $500K in annual revenue. The middle range runs from $30,000 to $84,119.
- Why does organization size affect Executive Director pay so much?
- Larger nonprofits handle bigger budgets, larger teams, and more complex operations, so the Executive Director role scales with them. Comparing pay within the same revenue band, rather than across all sizes, gives a far more accurate benchmark.
- What is the full pay range for an Executive Director at $250K–$500K organizations?
- The 25th percentile is $30,000, the median is $57,925, the 75th is $84,119, and the 90th percentile reaches $116,008. Where a specific role lands depends on region, tenure, and how complex the organization is.
- How does this compare to the national Executive Director median?
- The national median across all nonprofit sizes is $89,386. Filtering to organizations with $250K to $500K in revenue isolates the size effect, which is one of the strongest drivers of nonprofit compensation.