NP Benchmark

Civil rights and advocacy nonprofits in Tennessee: executive director pay, overhead ratio and reserves

42 civil rights and advocacy organizations in Tennessee with revenue USD 100k-5M, latest Form 990 or 990-EZ e-filed in 2025-2026. Their median program share of expenses is 83.7%, management and general 9.8% (Form 990 filers), fundraising 1.3%, and the median organization holds 7.4 months of expenses in net assets. 45.2% pay at least one officer or key employee; among those with revenue USD 500k-1M the median top officer pay is —.

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 civil rights and advocacy nationally (mark):

Program expenses
83.7% vs 80.0%
Management and general
9.8% vs 13.5%
Fundraising
1.3% vs 2.3%
Months of reserves
7.4 mo vs 8.6 mo
Top officer pay, civil rights and advocacy, Tennessee, by revenue band
Revenue bandFilersPay anyone25th pctMedian75th pct
USD 100k-250k1414%———
USD 250k-500k1338%———
USD 500k-1M967%———
USD 1M-5M6100%———

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.

Where your organization sits

Use the free lookup with your EIN for your own figures against these medians, or get the USD 49 report for the 10 named peers closest to you in Tennessee.

Paid report

USD 49 one-time: a civil rights and advocacy organization in Tennessee 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.

Civil rights and advocacy in other states

California (298) · New York (193) · District of Columbia (187) · Texas (167) · Florida (108) · Illinois (97) · Virginia (95) · Georgia (85) · Massachusetts (78) · Michigan (74) · Washington (67) · Ohio (62) · all states

Other causes in Tennessee

Human services (677) · Education (553) · Religion-related (499) · Arts, culture and humanities (378) · Community improvement (279) · Housing and shelter (255) · Recreation and sports (245) · Health care (191) · Animal-related (187) · Mental health and crisis intervention (164) · Philanthropy and grantmaking (159) · Youth development (136) · International (131) · Public safety and disaster relief (127) · Crime and legal (89) · Public and societal benefit (76) · Food, agriculture and nutrition (74) · Environment (65) · Employment (64) · Disease and disorder specific (57) · Mutual and membership benefit (28) · Medical research (24)