About DoubleNine Benchmark

What is this data?

DoubleNine Benchmark uses publicly available IRS Form 990 electronic filing data to provide compensation benchmarks for nonprofit organizations. Every tax-exempt organization with gross receipts above $200,000 or total assets above $500,000 must file Form 990, which includes detailed compensation information for officers, directors, trustees, and key employees in Part VII, Section A.

Methodology

We download electronic 990 filings from the GivingTuesday 990 Data Lake, which aggregates and indexes all electronically filed Form 990 returns. We parse Part VII Section A compensation data, normalize position titles using a multi-layered classification system, and enrich records with NTEE codes from the IRS Exempt Organization Business Master File.

Our title normalization system uses exact string matching, regex pattern matching, and heuristic rules to classify raw title strings into standardized categories (CEO/ED, CFO, COO, etc.) with over 94% classification accuracy.

Limitations

  • Only includes electronically filed returns (~60-65% of filers)
  • Data reflects filed fiscal years, typically with 1-2 year lag
  • Title classification is automated and may contain errors
  • Compensation includes only amounts reported on Form 990 Part VII
  • Does not include benefits, deferred compensation, or non-reportable perks
  • Small organizations (under $200K gross receipts) may file 990-EZ instead, which is not included

IRS Compliance Context

This tool is designed to support the comparability review process described in IRS Form 990 Part VI, Line 15 and Treasury Regulation § 53.4958-6(a). The rebuttable presumption of reasonableness requires that compensation decisions be approved by an independent body using appropriate comparability data. DoubleNine Benchmark provides one source of such data, but should be used alongside other compensation studies and professional guidance.

Data Freshness

Our data pipeline runs monthly to incorporate newly filed returns. The most recent data available depends on when organizations file and when the IRS makes filings available electronically.