Compare · CauseComp vs. ProPublica
CauseComp vs. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: why pay when the filings are free?
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer is free and public. In its own words, it lets you browse "millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations" and see "details like executive compensation, revenue, expenses and more." It is a free way to read one organization's filings, and boards should keep using it.
So why would a board pay for CauseComp? Because a pay decision needs more than one organization's return: a peer set of similarly situated organizations, a figure placed within a range for your budget size, sector and location, and a written method the board can show. A board can assemble that by hand from filings, or buy it.
What does each cover?
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, by its own description: millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations, with details like executive compensation, revenue and expenses. You can search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings.
CauseComp: the Executive product models 1,100,000+ Form 990 compensation records from a corpus of 147,000+ filing organizations, to your budget size, sector and location; the Workforce product covers 850+ staff roles across ~390 metros from BLS wage data. On Professional, CauseComp adds a §4958 comparables set: similarly situated organizations, drawn statewide, with the method stated.
How current is the data?
ProPublica shows an "Updated" date on its own site; check it there.
IRS Form 990 filings are always 18 to 30 months old by the time they're public, so any figure built from them reflects an earlier market. CauseComp shows the data vintage on every benchmark, so a compensation committee can see how current the figures behind a recommendation are.
What does each cost?
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer is free and public.
CauseComp: median pay by role, rounded and free, on the salary pages; a one-time Board Report at $349 (one position, board-ready PDF with a §4958 comparables set, credited toward Professional within 90 days); Essential at $588/yr (executive and workforce benchmarks); and Professional at $996/yr, adding §4958 comparables data, board-ready PDFs, multi-role comparison and the Claude connector. Current prices are always on the pricing page.
Comparison at a glance
| CauseComp | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $349 one-time Board Report, or a subscription (Essential or Professional) | Free and public |
| What you see | P25, P50 and P75 for a role, modeled to budget size, sector and location | Annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations, with details like executive compensation, revenue and expenses |
| How you search | Enter a role, budget size, sector and location | By organization, by person, or the full text of filings |
| §4958 comparables set | Professional: comparables set + board-ready PDF, drawn statewide, method stated | Individual filings |
| Named individuals | Named officer pay is not reproduced on public pages | Search by person |
| How current | Data vintage shown on every benchmark | Shows an "Updated" date |
When is ProPublica the right choice?
When you want to read what one organization reported. ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer is free and public, and you can search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings. A board checking a single peer's return should use it, and keep using it alongside anything else it buys.
When is CauseComp the right choice?
When the board needs more than one organization's return: a peer set of similarly situated organizations, a figure placed within a range for your budget size, sector and location, and a written method it can show. How many peers are there to find? CauseComp's own research on the three-comparables rule measures how often small nonprofits have three comparable organizations in the same state or the same city.
For a market read, start with the free medians on the salary pages. For a documented peer set on one position, use the one-time Board Report. For every role, all year, use the Professional plan.
Start with CauseComp
Benchmark your whole org, executive and staff, with board-ready documentation. One-time Board Report from $349, or Professional at $996/yr.
Use more than one source
The reasonableness process rests on multiple independent sources. A board can read the filings on ProPublica's free Nonprofit Explorer and set them beside CauseComp's model, projected to a date you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Is ProPublica's data the same as CauseComp's?
They start from the same public record. ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lets you browse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations. CauseComp models 1,100,000+ executive compensation records from Form 990 filings, from a corpus of 147,000+ filing organizations, and reports a range for your budget size, sector and location.
Can a board use ProPublica on its own for §4958 comparability data?
Raw filings can form part of comparability data if the board assembles and documents the peer set itself. Either can serve as comparability data; neither grants the rebuttable presumption by itself. The presumption requires advance approval by an independent board body, appropriate comparability data, and contemporaneous documentation.
Why does CauseComp publish medians free if ProPublica is already free?
A median and a single filing answer different questions. CauseComp's salary pages publish one rounded median per role, taken from Form 990 filings. Those medians are market reads, not comparability data: a board decision needs a peer set matched to the organization, which is what the Board Report and the Professional plan provide.
What does ProPublica show that CauseComp doesn't?
Named individuals and the full filings. ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lets you search for a person and search the full text of filings. CauseComp does not reproduce named officer pay on its public pages; it reports ranges across a peer set.
Neither of these is legal advice, right?
CauseComp is not legal advice: it provides data and documentation to support board deliberations. Organizations should consult counsel on §4958 process questions.
See where you land. View a sample benchmark, compare the tiers, or talk it through, even if the right answer for now is the free filings.
ProPublica facts as read on 22 September 2026 from ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer home page, projects.propublica.org/nonprofits; check that site for its current scope. CauseComp provides data and documentation to support board deliberations, not legal advice. Not affiliated with ProPublica.