Before you start, collect your foundation’s most recently filed IRS Form 990 and other common reports from the last completed fiscal year. Set an appointment on your calendar and carve out time for the survey. The Industry Survey contains nine sections and should take 45 to 60 minutes to complete. The Compensation & Benefits Survey has eight sections and should also take 45 to 60 minutes to complete. Many foundations find success in dividing the survey content among staff members for completion. Survey questions can be downloaded in PDF format to be used as a guide for collecting responses. Consider using a general email as your login address such as foundation@yourorgname.org so that staff can share duties in answering the questions.

Best Practices

Before you start, collect your foundation’s most recently filed IRS Form 990 and other common reports from the last completed fiscal year.
Set an appointment on your calendar and carve out time for the survey. The Industry Survey contains nine sections and should take 45 to 60 minutes to complete. The Compensation & Benefits Survey has eight sections and should also take 45 to 60 minutes to complete.
Many foundations find success in dividing the survey content among staff members for completion. Survey questions can be downloaded in PDF format to be used as a guide for collecting responses.
Consider using a general email as your login address such as foundation@yourorgname.org so that staff can share duties in answering the questions.