(Re)Introducing the Nonprofit Salary Explorer | Your Go-To Compensation Tool

Equity, negotiation, counter-offers, wage gaps, cost-of-living … the list goes on! Considering the breadth of topics and frequently asked questions that fall within the “salaries” category, it seems like it’s always a good time to discuss compensation. 

And here at Idealist, we’re not just talking about salaries; we’ve also developed an entire toolkit—think data, resources, and brand new functionality—to help inform all of your salary decisions in the nonprofit sector. So whether you’re wondering about negotiation, counter-offers, closing the wage gap, cost-of-living, or pay equity, it’s our goal to provide you with the data and the power to make the best salary decisions for you.

What is the Nonprofit Salary Explorer?

Idealist’s Nonprofit Salary Explorer is our free compensation tool developed specifically for current and aspiring social-impact professionals.

It’s fueled by 40k+ submissions from real people working at nonprofits across the country who have taken our salary survey. We ask for a few pieces of key information—like job title, salary, years of experience, location, and optional demographics—to understand how these factors influence compensation. That way, social-impact professionals like you can use the tool to find out what you need to know before negotiating salary, switching roles, or relocating to a new city.

If you’ve worked full time (35+ hours/week) at a nonprofit in the United States within the last three years, we want to hear from you! Try it out. → 

Once you’ve taken the survey, explore nonprofit salaries submitted by others using our salary calculator tool. You can filter results by specific parameters—job title, location, years of relevant experience—and dig into even more detail when planning a career move. Try it out. →

Salary transparency and shared data = pay equity

In the survey, we ask social-impact professionals to (optionally) share important information such as race and ethnicity, gender identity or expression, veteran status, disabilities status, and age. We understand that these aren’t minor details; in fact we take your data—and your data protection—very seriously. 

But how does Idealist use this information? And does it really benefit social-impact professionals?

As many of us in the workforce know, pay inequity is real. One need only look at things like this post on the wage gap to get a sense of the issues that exist. The more details we’re able to collect from you and your fellow social-impact professionals, the more holistic the salary story becomes, allowing us to share rich and well-informed data and resources with our community. 

Ultimately, we hope that our unique ability to celebrate instances of equitable pay in the sector, as well as shine a spotlight on where employers can do better, will benefit everyone from new grads to seasoned professionals. And where there’s an opportunity to do better, we always strive to be a ready resource in that work, so you can expect plenty more from us in the way of pay equity and transparency. Watch this space!