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Nonprofit Compensation Report

To attract and retain talent, nonprofits need to set competitive wages and benefits, especially in today's tight market. By sharing data, organizations contribute to a timely, reliable, local source of information about workforce and compensation trends, so together we can build more competitive and equitable compensation practices that appropriately reward people for investing their time and talents in our missions.

2026 Survey on Nonprofit Wages + Benefits in Northern New England

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Our 2026 survey is NOW OPEN! The deadline to participate is May 22nd. 

Steps to Participate

  1. Identify who will take the survey on behalf of your organization - one response per organization.
  2. Prepare - download the detailed 2026 Nonprofit Wages + Benefits Survey Instructions and Preparation Checklist.
  3. Complete the online survey by May 22, 2026 at 5pm ET. 
  4. Earn rewards! Member organizations that participate receive the report for free, nonmember participants receive 50% off ($150 value!).

Preparation Worksheet                    Survey Link

For assistance, please email us at helpdesk@nonprofitmaine.org or reach out to Sean at the UNH Survey Center at sean.mckinley@unh.edu. 

FAQs About the Survey    

Any 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), or 501(c)(6) organization based in or with paid staff working in Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont. Only one person per organization should complete the survey. All-volunteer organizations can participate and get credit by completing the first section.
Identifying information is kept separate and only used to prevent duplicate submissions, determine participation discounts, and contact you should we have questions about your survey responses.
It will take approximately 30 minutes to enter data into the online survey, assuming you’ve already gathered all of the required information on the preparation checklist. How long it takes to gather the data will vary depending on the size of your organization’s budget and staff.
The report will be published in the Fall, with a goal of mid October.

If you have employees based in multiple states, please use the link for the state where your organization is headquartered.

  • For questions about your organization overall, such as operating expenses, total gross wages, total volunteers and total employees, please report the total across all states.
  • For questions about job categories/specific wages, report only positions that are located/based within that state. For example, if your headquarters are in Vermont and you have 5 project managers, but 3 are in Vermont and 2 in NH, report using the Vermont link. In the wage section, report that you have 3 positions that match the Project Manager category and report the average wage for those 3.
  • To determine which state a position is based in, use the same criteria you would use for unemployment insurance or workers compensation insurance.
  • You will only see additional questions about your Executive Director if you have reported having an Executive Director in that state.
Yes. All-volunteer organizations may participate in the survey to earn a free/discounted copy of the report. They will be skipped over the majority of survey questions.

Thank You to Our 2026 Sponsors!

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2024 Report 

Based on data collected in the Spring and Summer of 2024, this report covers staffing and compensation practices of 788 northern New England nonprofit organizations (352 from Maine). Wage details are included for 31 job categories common to many organizations. The 2024 survey was a joint effort with the NH Center for Nonprofits, CommonGood Vermont, and the UNH Survey Center.  Thank you to our 2024 sponsors: Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Lebel & Harriman Retirement Advisors, ProSearch, UST Workforce Solutions, and KMA HR Consulting. 

Download a Free Snapshot of Key Findings

Order the Full Report

Purchasers of the Maine report may purchase the Vermont and New Hampshire editions at a discount. Contact MemberSupport@NonprofitMaine.org for ordering instructions.

Please note that this report does not reflect recommendations of what wages and benefits should be at all Maine nonprofits. It presents data on actual staffing and compensation practices of 352 Maine nonprofits, alongside additional data from nonprofits across Northern New England, as reported during Spring 2024. It is one important resource nonprofit leaders and their partners can use to inform essential and ongoing conversations about how we value and invest in our nonprofit workforce.

Other Resources for Setting Compensation + Caring for Our Workforce

Setting compensation is an art, not a science, and organizations should use multiple sources of information, including their own organizational values, to inform their strategies.