From a spreadsheet to a defensible number.
No consultants, no survey cycle. Upload what you already have, and waterline benchmarks every role against comparable nonprofits in your metro, updated continuously.
Request accessSubmit your data
Upload a CSV of title and salary, or enter roles by hand. Add a job description for sharper matching.
Benchmarked to your metro
Every role is matched to peers in your budget band, metro, and sector, then set to the median of three sources.
Live dashboard
See where every role stands, a recommended range, and a leadership-ready narrative, always current.
Every benchmark is the median of three independent sources.
IRS 990 filings
The most recent Form 990 filed by nonprofits in your metro area. Public and audited. We adjust every figure forward to current-year dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index.
waterline peers
Real, current pay that waterline member organizations in your metro submit and confirm. Aggregated and anonymous, never tied to a named employee, and refreshed as orgs add data.
Labor market
Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, adjusted for the nonprofit sector, combined with active nonprofit job postings in your metro. Gives every metro full coverage, even where peer data is thin.
Benchmarks built from fewer than five peers are suppressed, so a number never traces back to one organization. As more orgs in your metro contribute, your peer data grows sharper and more current.
This kind of data is critical when setting compensation. It's data I've relied on and would continue to use annually.