Pay Gap Narrows for Male and Female Nonprofit Executives, Says New Survey

By Harvy Lipman

For the fifth year in a row, female executives of nonprofit organizations earned less than their male counterparts, but the gap is closing, according to a new report issued by GuideStar.

The median compensation of male chief executives in 2005 was 25.6 percent higher than the pay for females in similar positions. However, that difference is far less than it was in 2000, when the pay gap between male and female executives was 45.7 percent.

Part of the reason for the difference in pay is that female chief executives are more likely to be found at smaller organizations. Women accounted for 57 percent of the top executives at nonprofit groups with budgets of $1-million or less, but just 36 percent of larger organizations.

The report also found that leaders of the largest nonprofit organizations received larger percentage pay raises than those at smaller groups.

The median increase in compensation for chief executives at organizations with budgets between $500,000 and $1-million was 3.7 percent, compared with 6.8 percent for those at groups with budgets greater than $50-million.

Among 20 metropolitan areas studied in the report, median pay for all officers in Washington was the highest, at $107,758. The lowest compensation was in the Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., metropolitan area, at $77,395.

After adjusting for differences in the cost of living, however, GuideStar found that executives in Houston ended up with the most disposable income, while those in San Francisco had the least.

The 2006 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report is based on an analysis of federal tax returns filed by more than 63,000 nonprofit groups. GuideStar, in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit organization that makes data about nonprofit groups available to the public.

Electronic copies of the report cost $349, while CD-ROM versions cost $449. They can be obtained from the GuideStar Web site, or by calling GuideStar at (800) 784-9378.