Full-time nonprofit consultants earn a median of about $87,000 a year, according to the 2026 State of Nonprofit Consulting report. But the median won't tell you what you'll earn. That depends on your goals and how you build your business to reach them. Some consultants want to earn six figures or more. Others are happy earning less in exchange for a more flexible schedule. Below, you'll see what consultants charge, how that compares to a nonprofit salary, and what it takes to build the income you want.
Nonprofit consultant salary and hourly rates
The 2026 State of Nonprofit Consulting report surveyed 381 nonprofit consultants. It also found:
About 30% of consultants earn $100,000 or more, and about 17% earn $150,000 or more.
The most common hourly rate is $100 to $149, and about 55% of consultants charge between $100 and $199 an hour.
Part-time consultants, and those still moving into consulting, earn an estimated median of about $12,500.
What you earn depends on:
How many clients you work with
How much you charge
How you charge (by the hour, by the project, or monthly)
Whether you consult part-time or full-time
How long you've been consulting
How it compares to a nonprofit job
An in-house nonprofit fundraiser, meaning one employed by a nonprofit, earned a median salary of about $87,700 in 2024, according to the AFP 2025 Compensation and Benefits Report. For a 40-hour week, that's about $42 an hour. Nonprofit CEOs earned a median of $110,000 in 2023, according to Candid's analysis of IRS filings.
A salary comes with things a consultant pays for out of their own rate: health insurance, retirement, paid time off, and the hours spent on business development, email, and admin. That's why the most common consultant rate, $100 to $149 an hour, is so much higher than the $42 an hour a salary works out to.
How nonprofit consultants earn income
As a consultant, you set your own prices. Most consultants price their work one of three ways:
Project fees: a set price for a defined piece of work
Retainers: a monthly fee for ongoing work
Hourly rates: a set rate for each hour you work
To choose the right model for your work, read how to price nonprofit consulting services.
In the 2026 report, earnings rose the most when consultants went from 1 to 3 clients a year to 4 to 6, and when they moved from projects under $5,000 to larger ones. Consultants who mainly used retainers had the highest median earnings.
What my first year of consulting looked like
In my first year, I had two monthly retainer clients: one at $8,000 a month and one at $5,000 a month. I also took on short-term projects, usually around $2,500 each. I was charging about $100 an hour.
You don't need dozens of clients. A couple of steady retainers can match or beat a nonprofit salary.
The hidden variable: Hours worked
Not every hour you work is billable, meaning paid by a client. You also spend time on marketing, sales calls, proposals, invoicing, and admin.
Say you charge $100 an hour and bill 30 hours a week. That's $3,000. Add 10 hours of marketing and admin, and you've worked 40 hours for $3,000, or $75 an hour.
A lot of people come into consulting for control over their schedule and expect six figures on 30 hours a week. That's possible, but only if you charge enough. In my experience, many nonprofit consultants undercharge, and when your rate is too low, the only way to reach your income goal is to work more hours.
Trading time for money vs. charging for value
In a nonprofit job, your pay is tied to your time. To earn more, you wait for a raise or take on a bigger role. Hourly consulting works in a similar way: to earn more, you raise your rate or work more hours.
Project fees and retainers give you another option. You charge for the result or the ongoing support, not the hours it takes. As you get faster and better at the work, you keep the time you save. That's one way consultants grow their income without adding hours.
If you're not sure your rate covers your costs, the Pricing Audit Bootcamp walks you through it in about an hour, with a calculator for hourly, project, and retainer rates.
Building a consulting business takes time
Consulting isn't like clocking in to a 9-to-5. You're building a business, and that doesn't happen overnight. In the 2026 report, median earnings rose markedly between consultants' first year and years 4 to 6.
The demand is there. More than 4 in 5 consultants (83%) said demand for their services was stable or growing, and most said they plan to keep consulting long-term. To see why nonprofits hire consultants and how they work with them, read do nonprofits hire consultants?
Do nonprofit consultants make more than employees?
Some do, and some don't. Consulting can give you good income, work you enjoy, and a schedule you control. You get there by deciding what you want first, then setting your rates, number of clients, and hours to match. If income is your priority, set your prices and plan how many clients you need to reach your number. If flexibility is your priority, decide how many hours you want to work, then figure out what you need to charge to make those hours enough.
About the author
Catalina "Cat" Parker is the founder of Relatable Nonprofit. She has a master's in nonprofit management from Columbia, her business has generated nearly $1 million in revenue, and 100+ nonprofit professionals have joined her Mentorship program. Read her story.
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