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The Public Lands Alliance has released its report and analysis of salary and wages from public land nonprofit organizations based on 2015 data. Public Lands Alliance Members have full access to the report here, upon using their sign-in information.

For public land nonprofits interested in receiving access to the full report, consider membership with the Public Lands Alliance. Becoming a member gives your organization staff and board access to our online communities, discounts on our education events and annual convention, as well as full access to our survey findings based on the public lands nonprofit industry.

Click here to learn more about membership.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of the 2015 Wage and Salary Survey Results and Analysis was to provide specific information on employee salaries provided by public land nonprofit organizations for their employees. This data is meant to be used as a planning tool for organizations and to provide an overall look at public land nonprofit organization wages and salaries across the nation.

In total, 59 nonprofit organizations participated in the survey, whose public lands operations range from retail, education and learning, and fundraising, to other support functions, such as grants, advocacy, and fee collection on public lands.

The survey analysis examined both salary and hourly rate positions, as well as cost of living, hourly rates compared to minimum wage and salaries and wages across different revenue categories for the 2015 Fiscal Year. Overall, the analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between organizations with higher gross revenue and higher salaries.

There is also evidence that public land nonprofits across the nation pay their hourly rate employees at a higher wage (sometimes more than 100% higher) than the state minimum wage. While cost of living was examined in this survey, the results of how organizations felt cost of living was in their area was not compared with county-specific cost of living data.

However, comparing how organizations felt cost of living was to what they provided their Executive Directors in terms of salary, showed a positive relationship with higher Executive Director salaries given in areas that organizations felt were “More Expensive than Average".

The full report also analyzed salaries and hourly wages for common public land nonprofit positions such as, business managers, development directors, retail managers, education managers, bookkeepers, retail buyers, bookstore associates, naturalists, and others.

For all positions identified in these results, a salary range, average and median were provided and compared to gross revenue for the Fiscal Year 2015.

We extend our thanks to all the participants and to Mark Tilchen, Executive Director of Sequoia Parks Conservancy, for assisting with the development and analysis of this survey. For questions related to these results and analysis, contact the Public Lands Alliance at info@publiclandsalliance.org.