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
Information

Participation in our surveys is made easy through our online data collection tool.

Participate

Please note: C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group is a division of SullivanCotter.

Pricing

2026 Survey Participants:
Complimentary to Survey Participants

Key Dates

Participation opens:
Fall 2027
Deadline for participation:
Fall 2027
Benchmarks publication:
Winter 2027

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

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

Latest Posts

Stay updated with our recent articles and insights.

Articles, News

C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group Releases New National Foundation Board Practices Survey Highlighting the Evolution of Modern Governance

Our new research highlights the widespread use of board term limits, robust performance evaluation practices, and the prevalence of board compensation among foundations.

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Events

FAOG for Community Foundations | 2026 Annual Conference

We'll be presenting a session entitled Beyond Benchmarking: Compensation Strategies for a Changing Foundation Workforce.

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Video, News

VIDEO | The Return of Performance Awards

Thoughtful performance rewards can be a powerful way to connect daily work to the broader impact your organization is striving to achieve.

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Articles, News

The Modern Foundation Board is Taking Shape

A new study shows more term limits, greater attention to board demographics, and a shift toward actively engaged – and increasingly compensated – board members.

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News, Video

VIDEO | The Important Distinction Between Cost of Living and Cost of Labor

C3’s Jen Givens walks through the difference and explains how nonprofits can use both to make more informed and strategic salary budget decisions.

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News, Video

VIDEO | Leadership Transition: Is Your Organization Ready?

C3's Nanci Hibschman shares key data and insights on why succession planning is essential to sustaining mission continuity, along with practical steps boards can take to build leadership pipelines, strengthen CEO performance partnerships, and prepare for what lies ahead.

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News, Video

VIDEO | Nonprofit Executive Compensation Best Practices

C3's Nanci Hibschman walks through a 10-step checklist boards can use to mitigate risk and strengthen executive compensation oversight in a complex regulatory environment.

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Events

2026 SHRM Annual Conference

C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group is honored to be a returning guest presenter for the third time at the 2026 SHRM Annual Conference & Expo.

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Events

2026 Foundation HR Alliance Summit

Mark your calendars for our popular annual event! Join foundation people leaders from across the country for an opportunity to connect, share insights, and explore the talent and culture topics that matter most to our sector.

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News, Video

VIDEO | Ensuring Reasonable Executive Compensation

Nanci Hibschman discusses how to establish the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness and outlines a clear process organizations can follow to protect their organization and ensure executive pay remains compliant, competitive, and reasonable.

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Events

Indiana Alliance of YMCAs | Virtual Volunteer Summit

C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group is excited to participate in this impactful event hosted by the Indiana Alliance of YMCAs. We'll be presenting a session on executive compensation and governance!

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News, Video

VIDEO | Pay Transparency: Moving from Compliance to Understanding

Many organizations are sharing more pay information. But without internal alignment, transparency can create confusion instead of trust. Employees want to understand the logic behind pay decisions.

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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.

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Foundation Board Practices Survey