12/19/2023

Examining the Typical CEO Severance Payout

Saying goodbye to a good leader can be costly

New research from ASAE's Executive Compensation Study (ECS) team shows the average severance payment to association CEOs amounted to more than 10 months of base pay; the median is 8.2 months.

The ECS team analyzed more than 28,000 IRS Form 990s between 2018 and 2022 from 7,818 national, regional, and state trade and professional associations. That analysis identified 1,120 severance payments, of which 186 were paid to a chief executive officer.

That means only 2.4 percent of organizations paid out severance to the CEO during that four-year period. However, CEO severance payments for that period totaled $62 million.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.