What under $100K in revenue means for Executive Director pay
Nonprofits with under $100K in annual revenue are the smallest organizations in the data: local charities, volunteer-led groups and single-program organizations. An Executive Director here often covers several jobs at once, and works within a very tight budget.
Across all nonprofit executive directors nationally, the median is $89,386. At organizations with under $100K in revenue, executive directors earn about $67,536 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 Under $100K organizations make?
- The median total compensation is $21,850, based on 9,875 IRS Form 990 filings from nonprofits with under $100K in annual revenue. The middle range runs from $9,600 to $39,972.
- 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 Under $100K organizations?
- The 25th percentile is $9,600, the median is $21,850, the 75th is $39,972, and the 90th percentile reaches $63,515. 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 under $100K in revenue isolates the size effect, which is one of the strongest drivers of nonprofit compensation.