MNA is excited to partner with nonprofit associations from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska to present the 2024 Nonprofit Wage & Compensation survey. This survey and the resulting report is a critical tool for comparing benefit offerings and total compensation, ensuring fair and equitable pay for our sector.

The study will compare data across the region, but the report will also be broken down by state and organization size to provide the best data for your organization. Whether your nonprofit is looking to hire, or is building equitable pay bands – the report will get you the data you need to ensure you’re compensating competitively.

Taking the survey

MNA members who contribute survey responses will receive the resulting report for FREE. For members who don’t take the survey, the report will be available for $75. Non-members may also download the report (available later this year) for $150, regardless of survey participation.

The more organizations participate, the more valuable the the information will be, so we encourage all MNA members to fill it out!

We anticipate that the survey should take about 30-45 minutes to fill out, depending on the size of your organization. We recommend you fill it out in one sitting, but if you need to come back, the form will save the data you’ve already entered. The survey should be filled out by just one person from each organization – we recommend sending it to your Executive Director or your Human Resources Director if you have one.

One way to cut the time is to have your documents handy before you start the survey. Identify and gather the information you need with the Survey Preparation Checklist below.

All data will be anonymized for reporting purposes. Organization-specific data will not be shared with anyone, and we will omit any category with less than three responses.

Preparation Checklist

Have the following information available when you take the survey:

• EIN
• Current Annual Operating Budget
• Staff retention challenges (if applicable):
  • Kinds of open positions (entry/mid/executive)
  • What kind of benefits packages have been modified in response to challenge
  • Average % increase in employee salaries at each level
  • Other steps taken to retain/attract staff
• Number of employees:
  • Full-time (FT) last year
  • Full-time (FT) this year
  • Part-time (PT) last year
  • Part-time (PT) this year
• Net changes to staffing over the past year
• Cost of employee benefits, excluding payroll taxes and worker’s compensation
• Annual gross wages (total salary/wage line from current fiscal year’s budget)
• Premiums your organization pays for
• List of types of additional compensation – cash in-lieu, parental leave
• Details and eligibility requirements for the following types of benefits:
  • Group health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Life/disability insurance
  • Retirement plans and matching
  • Health/flexible spending accounts
• Paid time off policy details, including:
  • Annual carryover
  • Holidays offered
  • # of days based on length of service
  • Paid time off for PT employees
• For each of your job positions, you will be asked:
  • Average # of hours worked per week
  • Average wages in the form of the annual salary for employees who most match the job categories included in the survey

Preparing the Data

In order to allow for more accurate comparisons, convert hourly wages to annual salaries–round to the nearest cent. You can do this by multiplying the hourly wage by 2,080 hours for a 40-hour workweek (1664 for a 32-hour workweek). Calculate the average salary of all employees in a job category.

If more than one employee matches a job category and each is paid a different wage, calculate the average annual salary for all of the matching employees–round to the nearest cent.

FAQ