California’s nonprofit sector, which employs around 10% of the state’s workforce and provides vital services to communities throughout the state, is impacted by continuing inflation, uncertainty around funding sources, concern about softening economic conditions, and shifting federal government policies. In this environment, the 2026 survey report will provide information not available anywhere else to nonprofit leaders responsible for their organizations’ compensation and benefits policies:

• Current, local compensation data on more than 200 jobs found in nonprofit organizations throughout Northern California, including the metropolitan areas of the San Franciso Bay Area and Sacramento
• Base pay levels and bonus/incentive pay for each job with details by annual operating budget, location within Northern California, number of employees and primary field of service
• Employee benefits in detail: paid time off, insurance, retirement
• Salary increases over the past year and expected during the next year
• Policies with respect to on-call work, overtime, shift differentials, pay for bilingual skills, introductory periods, performance reviews and more.
• Impacts of the current economic and political environment on operations and policies
• Employee turnover rates over the past year, and degree of concern about turnover in 2026

And you'll have the satisfaction of contributing to a resource that benefits the entire Northern California nonprofit community.

The survey provides a wealth of information to help nonprofits compete effectively on this ever-changing playing field. This past year, 728 nonprofit organizations reporting on more than 41,000 jobs participated in the 2025 survey, making it among the largest and most robust in the survey's 47-year history. We expect another strong response to the survey in 2026.

If you don’t already have a copy of the 2025 survey report, you can take advantage of our annual 2-for-1 offer. You can purchase the 2025 report at 50% off, if you prepay at the same time for the 2026 survey at the discounted participant rate.

What Nonprofit Managers Say About the Survey...

"The California Fair Pay for Nonprofits survey is the gold standard for many nonprofit professionals looking to provide equitable compensation to our teams. For the last decade that I've been in HR, my colleagues and I have relied on the Fair Pay survey to ensure that what we are offering our staff is in line with the market and organizations of our size in the Bay Area. It is an invaluable tool in helping us communicate our compensation philosophy to our staff, as well as to our board, and has increased transparency in our compensation practices. With new upcoming pay transparency laws going into effect in 2023, this tool will be more essential than ever!"

Wendi Deetz
Director of Human Resources
Huckleberry Youth Programs, San Francisco

"In creating three year strategic plans, the Fair Pay Nonprofit survey has served as an excellent planning tool. We know we are using the most reliable and relevant data in determining competitive wages and benefits for our valuable staff. I know this has helped us to attract and retain the best people!"

Michele Grupe
Executive Director
Cope Family Center, Napa

"Determining compensation is never an easy task. Access to an up-to-date, comprehensive guide as a reference has been instrumental for our organization. Having accurate data, defined by region, has allowed us to provide competitive offers to new hires and existing employees. We refer to the guide regularly and consider it a great value."

Charles Cormany
Executive Director
Efficiency First California, Sonoma

"We have relied on the Fair Pay Report every year to determine how our salary ranges track to other organizations of similar size. It helps inform us on budgeting for raises and salary adjustments. Our organization has grown significantly over the last couple of years. In 2021 we did a full HR audit to ensure we are keeping up with the Bay Area trends. The Fair Pay report was so helpful. It was great to review how we stack up to other organizations for salary,job titles and descriptions, benefit packages, holiday and vacation time. We are beyond grateful that this data is collected annually and presented in such a useful way. It also helped us think about how to organize and present our recommendations to the executive team making decisions. Thank you!"

Laurie Zerga
Finance and Operations Manager
Daily Acts, Petaluma

"Thank you for all you do! The publication is extremely valuable to our BOD Executive Committee. The Fair Pay survey results provide the main data the Committee uses to determine annual raises and benefit offerings for our management and staff members."

Laura Bloch
Business and Accounting Manager
SFArtsEd, San Francisco

"REACH Project has utilized the Fair Pay for Northern California Nonprofits survey for many years. To say it has been a value resource is an understatement. We could not operate without it! Its vast and relevant data is critical to our annual operations planning including staffing and budgeting of expenses. Thank you to all who make this outstanding resource available."

Mickie Marchetti
Executive Director
REACH Project, Antioch