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Setting CEO/ED Compensation: What Boards Should Know for 2026

September 7, 2025 by Michael Simkins

Every year, nonprofit boards face the responsibility of reviewing the salary of their CEO or Executive Director. A thoughtful approach ensures fairness, compliance, and organizational sustainability. Spokes’ new guidance sheet highlights six essentials for boards: staying compliant with IRS rules, reviewing market data, assessing organizational health, evaluating leadership performance, supporting retention, and using a clear, documented process.

To complement this, we’ve prepared a companion snapshot of regional inflation and San Luis Obispo County cost-of-living data. With CPI currently around 3% and local housing costs more than double the national average, boards have the context they need to consider reasonable cost-of-living adjustments (COLA). Together, these resources give boards a transparent, data-driven framework for making confident salary decisions.

Download the full 2-page guidance sheet here.

Spokes members also have access to a regional compensation survey. Log into your Spokes account to request access.

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DISCLAIMER: Spokes offers informed advice and recommendations, not professional counsel. Blog content is current as of the date shown. Individual posts are not necessarily updated, so please confirm the accuracy of the information, especially of older posts.

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I credit meeting my board goals this year to Spokes and their expert resources. As a result R.A.C.E. Matters is on a solid foundation with our structure, and we have added several outstanding new board members. As board president, I have been able to position R.A.C.E. Matters to continue to meet the everchanging needs of the community, grow the board and fulfilled our mission.

Preston C. Allen
President
R.A.C.E. Matters

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