Civil rights and advocacy nonprofits: pay, overhead and reserves by state
2,543 civil rights and advocacy organizations with revenue USD 100k-5M, latest Form 990 or 990-EZ e-filed in 2025-2026. Median program share 80.0%, management and general 13.5%, fundraising 2.3%, reserves 8.6 months; 62.1% report paying at least one officer or key employee.
Source: IRS Form 990 / 990-EZ e-file releases (public domain) joined with the Exempt Organizations Business Master File for NTEE codes; one latest return per EIN; universe = revenue USD 100k-5M, latest Form 990 or 990-EZ e-filed in 2025-2026, expenses above zero, 50 states + DC. Medians over filers reporting the field; management and fundraising shares count Form 990 filers only (990-EZ has no split). Data as of 2026-10-31.
Medians here (bar) vs all 226,109 filers nationally (mark):
| Revenue band | Filers | Pay anyone | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD 100k-250k | 700 | 44% | $27,500 | $50,000 | $75,617 |
| USD 250k-500k | 542 | 56% | $47,899 | $74,347 | $100,000 |
| USD 500k-1M | 504 | 69% | $71,151 | $94,000 | $132,234 |
| USD 1M-5M | 797 | 78% | $101,452 | $133,004 | $180,000 |
Top officer = the highest reportable compensation from the organization among the officers, directors, key and highest-compensated employees listed on Form 990 Part VII or 990-EZ Part IV (title and amount only, never a name). Percentiles cover filers that pay anyone; a dash means fewer than 10 of them. Benefits and deferred pay excluded.
By state
States with 20 or more filers link to a page with the full band table and bars.
| State | Filers | Program median | Reserves (mo) | Top pay median, 500k-1M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 30 | 84.8% | 16.1 | — |
| Alaska | 9 | — | — | — |
| Arizona | 45 | 87.6% | 4.1 | — |
| Arkansas | 21 | 75.5% | 7.9 | — |
| California | 298 | 81.4% | 6.9 | $121,926 |
| Colorado | 61 | 83.0% | 9.9 | $80,887 |
| Connecticut | 23 | 75.8% | 10.6 | — |
| Delaware | 16 | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | 187 | 79.6% | 6.7 | $116,234 |
| Florida | 108 | 82.4% | 9.0 | — |
| Georgia | 85 | 80.9% | 9.3 | — |
| Hawaii | 5 | — | — | — |
| Idaho | 21 | 78.2% | 10.3 | — |
| Illinois | 97 | 77.6% | 7.3 | $97,474 |
| Indiana | 41 | 79.4% | 13.9 | — |
| Iowa | 20 | 85.0% | 9.4 | — |
| Kansas | 22 | 77.9% | 13.1 | — |
| Kentucky | 15 | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | 30 | 78.7% | 8.8 | — |
| Maine | 15 | — | — | — |
| Maryland | 41 | 80.4% | 6.5 | — |
| Massachusetts | 78 | 75.5% | 8.6 | $105,000 |
| Michigan | 74 | 82.5% | 8.7 | — |
| Minnesota | 49 | 82.5% | 7.2 | — |
| Mississippi | 22 | 72.3% | 10.2 | — |
| Missouri | 49 | 80.1% | 8.0 | — |
| Montana | 12 | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | 23 | 87.4% | 5.1 | — |
| Nevada | 14 | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | 11 | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | 39 | 80.7% | 11.0 | — |
| New Mexico | 19 | — | — | — |
| New York | 193 | 78.0% | 7.6 | $100,000 |
| North Carolina | 61 | 77.3% | 11.2 | — |
| North Dakota | 8 | — | — | — |
| Ohio | 62 | 78.4% | 14.6 | — |
| Oklahoma | 24 | 82.3% | 8.8 | — |
| Oregon | 57 | 77.5% | 10.9 | $76,175 |
| Pennsylvania | 61 | 75.1% | 9.6 | — |
| Rhode Island | 9 | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | 18 | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | 9 | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | 42 | 83.7% | 7.4 | — |
| Texas | 167 | 80.3% | 9.9 | $80,650 |
| Utah | 19 | — | — | — |
| Vermont | 7 | — | — | — |
| Virginia | 95 | 85.0% | 7.8 | $84,336 |
| Washington | 67 | 78.9% | 6.9 | $82,686 |
| West Virginia | 11 | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | 38 | 82.3% | 10.8 | — |
| Wyoming | 15 | — | — | — |
Paid report
USD 49 one-time: a civil rights and advocacy organization vs the 10 closest named peers on top officer pay, expense split, reserves and revenue mix, with a filing link per peer; USD 79 adds the one-page comparability data sheet for the board file. Checkout opens shortly; the free lookup and pages work meanwhile.
NTEE group R as assigned in the Business Master File (code list). Codes can lag an organization's real activity; the paid report uses the 3-character code and lets you swap a peer once for free.