Surveys

Endowment and Foundation Investment Staff Compensation Survey

Detailed Insights on Compensation and Incentive Plan Design Practices

2026 Participation is Open

Our proprietary survey is a key source of benchmarking compensation levels and practices for staff managing investments in nonprofit organizations. Participants span college/university endowments, private foundations, health care and other nonprofit organizations. Our report provides salary, incentive opportunity and total cash compensation levels for 12 common positions, and provides detailed incentive plan design benchmarks for eligibility, performance measures and weightings, measurement periods, performance standards, and payout form/timing.

Survey Highlights

Base salary and total cash compensation data for senior and other investment staff

Detailed incentive plan design information, including performance measures and weighting, opportunity levels, payout and new hires

Other data including experience and organizational financial􀀀performance

National data reported by organization type and by asset category

Key endowment and foundation investment staff positions, including chief investment officer, managing director, director, manager, two levels of analyst staff and three levels of investment operations staff

Data on over 540 investment professionals from more than 60 organizations

Participation
Information

Participation in our surveys is made easy through our online data collection tool, which provides a secure, encrypted portal for data submission.

Participants receive exclusive, discounted pricing on valuable data and reports and early access to survey results.

Please note: C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group is a division of SullivanCotter. This survey will be administered by SullivanCotter.

Survey Samples

Download a sample of the 2025 survey report.

Reduced Pricing for Participants

2026 Survey Participants:
$1,700
2026 Early Submission Discount:
$300 off participant price
Nonparticipants:
$6,800

Key Dates

Participation opens:
January 6, 2026
Deadline for early submission discount:
January 30, 2026
Deadline for participation:
February 20, 2026
Benchmarks publication:
May 2026
Current status:
Closed for participation

Questions?

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact our Survey Team by phone at 888.739.7039 or by email at surveys@sullivancotter.com.

Foundation Board Practices Survey

Understanding Board Governance, Demographics, and Compensation

This inaugural survey is designed to establish industry standards that will strengthen the philanthropic sector by providing comprehensive insight into board composition and structure, governance best practices, member demographics, time commitment, board effectiveness, compensation program prevalence, value and design, and more.

Survey Highlights

Data from over 60 private and community foundations

Current and projected costs of board compensation

Detailed board structure insights including term limits, committees, expertise requirements and time commitment.

Insight into key board compensation components such as role-specific retainer, meeting fees, matching and discretionary grants program participation, and more.

Participation Timeline

Survey Launch

September 25, 2025

Submission Deadline

October 31, 2025

Results Published

December 2025

Interested in learning more? We would love to hear from you!

C3 Vantage Points

Our Mission

C3 exists to partner with the world’s most impactful organizations to navigate people and culture solutions. Learn more about our leadership, capabilities and unique commitment.