Foundation Board Practices Survey

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.

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

Pricing

2026 Survey Participants:
Complimentary to Survey Participants

Key Dates

Participation opens:
January 6, 2026
Deadline for participation:
February 20, 2026
Benchmarks publication:
May 2026
Current status:
Closed for participation (Next survey opens in 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!

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.