Rochester, NY Nonprofit Executive Jobs & Leadership Guide, 2026 Edition
From the University of Rochester’s 39,000-employee anchor to the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s $510 million in philanthropic assets — Rochester has rebuilt its civic economy around the nonprofit sector, creating one of Upstate New York’s most active markets for mission-driven executive leadership.
- More than 7,200 nonprofit organizations in the greater Rochester metropolitan area, employing 154,804 people and generating more than $17 billion in annual revenue with $28 billion in combined assets (Cause IQ, 2025)
- University of Rochester — Monroe County’s largest private employer — operates with ~39,000 employees, a $3.83 billion endowment, and a $9.2 billion economic impact on Monroe County; Strong Memorial Hospital (886 beds) is ranked the #1 hospital in Upstate New York outside NYC by U.S. News & World Report 2025–2026
- Rochester Regional Health, formed from the 2014 merger of Rochester General and Unity Health, operates 9 hospitals, employs 19,400+ people, and generates $3.2 billion in annual operating revenue — the region’s second-largest employer and largest in St. Lawrence County
- Rochester Area Community Foundation stewards $510 million in assets and distributed $29.3 million in grants across 515 awards in 2024 — anchoring regional philanthropy across Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, Livingston, and adjacent Finger Lakes counties
- Nonprofit Executive Director median salary in Rochester: $113,304 (Salary.com, June 2026); New York State ED median: $122,798 — Rochester runs approximately $9,500 below the state median, reflecting its lower cost-of-living relative to downstate markets
- New York State nonprofits provided 1.3 million jobs in 2022, representing roughly 1 in 6 private-sector positions statewide — one of the highest nonprofit employment concentrations in the nation (NYS Comptroller, January 2025)
- George Eastman’s philanthropic legacy seeded nearly every major Rochester institution: the University of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the organization that became the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes — making Rochester one of the most deliberately philanthropically engineered cities in American history
- United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes was co-founded in 1918 with George Eastman’s personal involvement and today holds $183 million in assets and serves a 6-county, 5,144-square-mile region with 30,000 donors and 14,000 volunteers
- Foodlink, Rochester’s regional food bank, generated $72.3 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025 — illustrating how Rochester’s social services nonprofits operate at a scale that exceeds many much larger cities
- Al Sigl Community of Agencies — Rochester’s nationally recognized collaborative disability-services campus — serves 55,000+ children and adults annually through 7 member agencies sharing facilities and infrastructure, a model that has inspired similar efforts nationally
The Rochester Nonprofit Market: An Insider’s View
Rochester, New York occupies a singular place in American civic history. When George Eastman built Eastman Kodak into one of the world’s most profitable industrial companies in the early 20th century, he simultaneously embarked on what he called “scientific philanthropy” on a scale almost without parallel in his era. By his death in 1932, he had given away the equivalent of roughly $2 billion in today’s dollars — seeding the University of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, Strong Memorial Hospital’s founding medical school, and the organization that became the United Way. The institutions he funded did not simply serve Rochester’s residents; they defined Rochester’s identity. That identity has only grown stronger as Kodak’s manufacturing base declined. Rochester’s response to deindustrialization was, in effect, to double down on its nonprofit anchors.
Today the University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health are Monroe County’s two largest private employers, and both are nonprofits. The University’s combined operations — spanning Strong Memorial Hospital, the Eastman School of Music, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Goergen Institute for Data Science, and a sprawling research enterprise — employ approximately 39,000 people and generate a $9.2 billion annual economic impact on Monroe County alone. Strong Memorial Hospital’s 886 licensed beds and more than 13,000 employees, combined with the Golisano Children’s Hospital co-located on campus, make it the single largest clinical enterprise in Upstate New York. For senior health system executives, development officers, academic administrators, and clinical leaders, the University of Rochester system represents one of the most competitive career environments in any Upstate city.
Rochester Regional Health — formed in 2014 from the merger of Rochester General Health System and Unity Health System and expanded through the 2021 acquisition of St. Lawrence Health System — operates 9 hospitals across Greater Rochester, the Finger Lakes, and northern New York. Its 19,400 employees and $3.2 billion in operating revenue make it one of the largest nonprofit health systems in New York outside of Manhattan. The two health systems together account for the vast majority of Rochester’s nonprofit employment in the healthcare sector, and they drive consistent executive demand across finance, operations, philanthropy, community health, and clinical administration.
Beyond healthcare, Rochester’s nonprofit landscape reflects the Eastman legacy in the arts and education with unusual depth. The Eastman School of Music — one of the world’s preeminent conservatories, operating as a division of the University of Rochester — anchors a rich performing arts ecosystem that includes the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Geva Theatre Center, the Memorial Art Gallery, and the George Eastman Museum. The Eastman Museum, situated in Eastman’s former mansion on East Avenue, is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the world’s oldest film archives, holding more than 400,000 photographs and 28,000 motion picture films. For arts administrators and development professionals, Rochester offers a density of cultural institutions that far exceeds what most cities of its population can support.
Rochester’s community foundation infrastructure is among the strongest in Upstate New York. The Rochester Area Community Foundation manages $510 million in assets and distributed $29.3 million in grants across 515 awards in 2024 — a grantmaking footprint that extends across Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties. Combined with United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes (which traces a direct line to George Eastman’s 1918 involvement), Foodlink’s $72 million food security operation, and the Al Sigl Community of Agencies’ nationally replicated collaborative campus for disability services, Rochester has built a nonprofit infrastructure that is considerably more sophisticated than its population of roughly 1.1 million would suggest.
Rochester Nonprofit Power Map: Key Corridors & Clusters
Medical Center District
The University of Rochester Medical Center campus on Elmwood Avenue anchors Rochester’s healthcare economy. Strong Memorial Hospital (886 beds, 13,334 employees), Golisano Children’s Hospital, and the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry concentrate the highest executive compensation in the region here. Health system C-suite roles at URMC and Rochester Regional Health’s main campus regularly command $300,000–$800,000+ in total compensation.
Higher Education Cluster
University of Rochester (River Campus, Eastman School of Music, UR Medicine), Rochester Institute of Technology (Henrietta), Monroe Community College, Nazareth University, and St. John Fisher University anchor a higher-education nonprofit cluster driving demand for academic administrators, development officers, enrollment managers, and student services executives. RIT alone employs 4,000+ faculty and staff with a $1.38 billion endowment.
Arts & Culture Row
East Avenue and the Neighborhood of the Arts concentrate Rochester’s most prominent cultural institutions: George Eastman Museum, Memorial Art Gallery (part of UR), the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Geva Theatre Center, and the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Development officers and arts administrators serving these organizations find a donor base with unusually deep roots in Eastman-era philanthropy and decades of institutional giving.
Finger Lakes Philanthropy Region
The Rochester Area Community Foundation’s grantmaking spans 8+ counties including Ontario, Livingston, Wayne, Seneca, Orleans, Wyoming, and Yates — extending the market for development and foundation professionals well into the Finger Lakes. The region’s agricultural, wine industry, and tourism-driven philanthropy creates a distinctive funding environment for rural and regional nonprofits distinct from the urban Rochester core.
Human Services & Disability Services
Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Al Sigl Community of Agencies, Catholic Family Center, PathStone, and a dense web of social services nonprofits serve the city’s aging population, people with disabilities, and low-income residents. Foodlink’s $72M food security operation distributes millions of pounds of food annually. These organizations employ thousands and drive consistent demand for social work executives, program directors, and operations leaders.
Innovation & Workforce Development
Rochester’s reinvention from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy has generated a layer of mission-driven innovation and workforce organizations: Center for Employment Opportunities, PathStone, Finger Lakes Works, and economic development nonprofits linked to SUNY Polytechnic, RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation, and the Luminate accelerator ecosystem. COO, VP of Programs, and strategic partnerships roles are active in this segment.
Salary Benchmarks: What Rochester Nonprofit Executives Earn
Rochester nonprofit compensation is heavily shaped by the healthcare and higher education anchors. The University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health push aggregate salary metrics well above typical small-to-mid-sized city benchmarks for their health system and academic executives. For community nonprofits, arts organizations, and social services agencies, compensation is more modest — but Rochester’s cost of living runs significantly below New York City and other downstate markets, meaning purchasing power for executives often exceeds nominal salary comparisons to larger markets. Figures below reflect market conditions for 2024–2026 based on Salary.com, ZipRecruiter, Candid, and the NYS Comptroller nonprofit compensation analysis.
Rochester Executive Director Salary Range by Organization Type (2026)
| Organization Type | Typical ED/CEO Salary | Salary Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Health System (URMC, Rochester Regional Health) | $350,000–$700,000+ | $250K — $1M+ | C-suite total comp includes incentive pay; system-level roles exceed $1M at senior levels |
| Major University / Academic Medical (UR, RIT) | $300,000–$600,000 | $200K — $800K+ | President/Provost level; development VP roles typically $130K–$220K |
| Large Community Nonprofit ($20M–$50M budget) | $140,000–$200,000 | $115K — $240K | Foodlink, Lifespan, United Way, Al Sigl level organizations |
| Mid-Sized Nonprofit ($5M–$20M budget) | $100,000–$145,000 | $80K — $170K | Human services, arts, education, community development organizations |
| Small-Mid Nonprofit ($1M–$5M budget) | $75,000–$108,000 | $58K — $125K | Neighborhood nonprofits, specialized service organizations, small foundations |
| Community Foundation (RACF) | $250,000–$350,000 | $200K — $400K+ | CEO of RACF compensation: $312,105 (IRS 990, 2025); program officer roles $80K–$130K |
| Sources: Salary.com Rochester NY ED Median $113,304 (June 2026); NY State ED Median $122,798 (Salary.com June 2026); ProPublica IRS 990 filings (RACF, Foodlink, United Way); Candid 2024 Nonprofit Compensation Report; NYS Comptroller Report on Nonprofits (January 2025). | |||
Role-by-Role Salary Benchmarks — Rochester Nonprofits (2026)
| Role | Small–Mid Org (<$5M) | Mid–Large Org ($5M–$25M) | Healthcare / Higher Ed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Director / CEO | $70,000 — $108,000 | $110,000 — $175,000 | $250,000 — $800,000+ |
| Chief Financial Officer | $62,000 — $98,000 | $105,000 — $148,000 | $165,000 — $450,000+ |
| Chief Development Officer | $65,000 — $98,000 | $115,000 — $158,000 | $155,000 — $380,000+ |
| Chief Operating Officer | $68,000 — $105,000 | $120,000 — $162,000 | $190,000 — $420,000+ |
| VP of Programs / Chief Program Officer | $60,000 — $92,000 | $102,000 — $142,000 | $145,000 — $240,000 |
| Director of Development | $62,000 — $92,000 | $105,000 — $148,000 | $128,000 — $225,000+ |
| VP of Marketing / Communications | $55,000 — $84,000 | $88,000 — $125,000 | $115,000 — $175,000 |
| Program Director | $52,000 — $78,000 | $74,000 — $112,000 | $95,000 — $155,000 |
| Sources: Salary.com Rochester NY and New York State (June 2026); ZipRecruiter Rochester Nonprofit; Candid 2024 Nonprofit Compensation Report; NYS Comptroller January 2025 Nonprofit Report. Rochester’s cost of living runs 15–20% below New York State averages, meaning purchasing power regularly exceeds nominal salary comparisons to downstate markets. | |||
Top Nonprofit Employers in Rochester, NY
Rochester’s largest nonprofit employers are concentrated in healthcare and higher education, with a strong second tier of philanthropy, food security, aging services, disability services, and arts organizations. Every organization below was verified against IRS 990 filings, Cause IQ, ProPublica, and official organizational websites. Figures not verifiable from primary sources have been omitted.
Healthcare Systems
University of Rochester / Strong Memorial Hospital
Academic Medical Center · Rochester (Est. 1850 / 1926)Monroe County’s largest private employer. ~39,000 total employees across the university and UR Medicine health system; $3.83 billion endowment; $9.2 billion annual economic impact on Monroe County. Strong Memorial Hospital: 886 licensed beds, 13,334 employees, 142,132 ER visits (2024); ranked #1 hospital in Upstate NY outside NYC (U.S. News 2025–2026). Golisano Children’s Hospital (190 beds) co-located on the URMC campus. The dominant anchor of Rochester’s nonprofit economy.
Rochester Regional Health
Integrated Health System · Rochester (Est. 2014)Formed from the 2014 merger of Rochester General Health System and Unity Health System; acquired St. Lawrence Health System in 2021. 9 hospitals across Greater Rochester, Finger Lakes, and northern NY. 19,400+ employees including 3,900+ nurses and 2,100+ providers. $3.2 billion operating revenue; serves 1.6 million people across 13,600 square miles. The region’s second-largest employer and Rochester’s counterbalancing health system to UR Medicine.
Higher Education
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Private Research University · Henrietta / Rochester (Est. 1829)One of the world’s leading technical universities, with ~18,500 undergraduates and 2,875 graduate students. Home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and one of the largest cooperative education programs globally. 4,000+ faculty and staff; $1.38 billion endowment (FY 2024). Strong programs in engineering, computing, design, business, and the arts. Significant employer of academic administrators, development officers, and research operations professionals.
Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester)
Conservatory / Higher Education · Rochester (Est. 1921)One of the world’s preeminent music conservatories, founded by George Eastman and operating as a division of the University of Rochester. Graduates perform in orchestras worldwide. Located in downtown Rochester, anchoring the city’s performing arts district. Career opportunities for arts administrators, development officers, and academic program managers in a globally ranked music institution with a deeply philanthropic alumni base.
Philanthropy & Community Foundations
Rochester Area Community Foundation
Community Foundation · Rochester (Est. 1972)$510.7 million in stewardship assets (FY ending March 2025); $29.3 million in grants distributed across 515 awards in 2024. Serves Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties. CEO Simeon Banister leads a philanthropy infrastructure spanning donor-advised funds, competitive community grants, and civic initiatives addressing housing, education, and economic opportunity across the Finger Lakes region.
United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes
Federated Philanthropy · Rochester (Est. 1918)Co-founded more than 100 years ago with direct involvement from George Eastman. $183.2 million in assets; $31.8 million in annual revenue (FY ending March 2025). 30,000 donors, 14,000 volunteers, 500 corporate partners, and a network of 1,200+ nonprofits across a 6-county, 5,144-square-mile region. A cornerstone of Rochester’s philanthropic infrastructure and an important career environment for federated fundraising executives.
Food Security, Aging Services & Disability Services
Foodlink
Regional Food Bank · Rochester (Est. 1977)Rochester’s regional food bank and nutrition nonprofit, operating at a scale that exceeds many peer cities. $72.3 million in revenue (FY ending June 2025); $67.6 million in program expenses; 332+ employees. CEO Julia Tedesco leads a multi-program operation distributing millions of pounds of food and preparing more than 2 million healthy meals for students annually. A major career environment for nonprofit operations, food systems leadership, and social services administration.
Lifespan of Greater Rochester
Aging Services · Rochester (Est. 1971)Helps approximately 30,000 older adults and caregivers annually through more than 30 direct services including care navigation, caregiver support, Medicare guidance, elder abuse protection, and transportation. ~200 employees; ~$20 million annual budget. Elder abuse prevention services extend across 10 Finger Lakes counties; dementia support programs cover 9 area counties. A leading advocacy and direct-service organization for Rochester’s rapidly growing older adult population.
Al Sigl Community of Agencies
Disability Services Collaborative · Rochester (Est. 1968)A nationally recognized collaborative campus model in which 7 independent nonprofits share facilities and business infrastructure to serve people with disabilities and special needs. Member agencies include CP Rochester, EPI, Rochester Rehabilitation Center, Starbridge, Rochester Hearing and Speech Center, National MS Society, and Medical Motor Service. Collectively serves 55,000+ children and adults annually. The Al Sigl collaborative structure has been replicated by disability service networks across the country.
George Eastman Museum
Photography & Film Museum · Rochester (Est. 1947)The world’s oldest photography museum and one of the world’s oldest film archives, situated in George Eastman’s mansion and estate — a National Historic Landmark — at 900 East Avenue. Collections include 400,000+ photographs, 28,000+ motion picture films, and 3 million+ cinematic artifacts. The Dryden Theatre hosts daily film screenings. A distinctive career environment for arts administrators and museum development professionals in a globally significant cultural institution.
Executive Search Firms Serving Rochester Nonprofits
Rochester nonprofit executive recruitment draws primarily from national nonprofit-specialist firms with strong New York State practices. The region’s healthcare anchor institutions also engage dedicated health system search firms. The firms below are actively engaged in placing nonprofit leaders in the Greater Rochester market.
- 1
Isaacson, Miller
The nation’s preeminent nonprofit and higher-education executive search firm, with a particularly strong practice in academic medical centers, research universities, and major foundations — all sectors central to Rochester’s nonprofit economy. Isaacson Miller has conducted searches for University of Rochester leadership, Upstate New York health systems, and major foundation CEO roles. The firm is the standard choice when Rochester’s largest anchor institutions conduct confidential national searches for senior leadership.
- 2
Kittleman & Associates
Founded 1963 — the nation’s first executive search firm focused exclusively on nonprofits. More than 60 years of placement expertise across nonprofit CEO and Executive Director searches. 2,000+ placements nationally; 96% remain in role at least two years. Sectors include conservation, science, community health, housing, foundations, and human services — all active in the Rochester market. A strong choice for Rochester organizations conducting regional or national leadership searches below the health system C-suite tier.
- 3
Nonprofit HR
The only human resources firm in the United States working exclusively in the social sector. Offers executive search, talent development, compensation consulting, and HR advisory services tailored to nonprofit organizations. Collaborative, mission-centered search process serving human services agencies, advocacy organizations, foundations, and mission-driven employers across New York State. Flat-fee structure and high search close rate on retained engagements. Well suited to Rochester’s deep human services and community development sector.
- 4
The Batten Group
Premier national executive search firm specializing in nonprofit, healthcare, higher education, and mission-based philanthropy leadership. 650+ successful placements nationwide. Places CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Chief Development Officers, and board members at organizations of all sizes. Faith-connected, arts, aging services, and community development organizations — all prominent in Greater Rochester — are among its specialties. Known for rigorous culture-fit methodology and long-term retention.
- 5
DRG Talent
A leading executive search and talent advisory firm with a strong New York State nonprofit practice. DRG places senior leaders at foundations, human services organizations, arts institutions, higher education, and community development nonprofits across the Northeast. Deep experience with New York City-headquartered national organizations that have Rochester-area affiliates or regional operations — and with Upstate organizations conducting competitive searches for talent from larger markets.
- 6
ExecSearches.com
Founded in 1999. The nation’s leading nonprofit executive job board and search platform with 27 years of continuous service to the social sector. Job postings ($150/30 days) reach 85,000+ subscribers nationally, with strong New York State reach spanning Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, and downstate markets. Made for executives and organizations seeking mission-driven leadership roles across Greater Rochester, the Finger Lakes, and beyond.
Browse Nonprofit Jobs Across New York State
Key Career Pages for Rochester Nonprofit Leaders
Employer Career Portals
Frequently Asked Questions
Rochester anchors one of the most substantial nonprofit markets in Upstate New York. The greater Rochester metropolitan area is home to more than 7,200 nonprofit organizations employing 154,804 people and generating more than $17 billion in annual revenue with $28 billion in combined assets — a remarkable figure for a metro of approximately 1.1 million people (Cause IQ, 2025).
The University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health alone account for the majority of that employment, with roughly 39,000 and 19,400 employees respectively. Beyond those two anchors, Rochester’s community foundation infrastructure, arts density, food security operations, and disability services sector are all larger and more sophisticated than peer cities of similar population would typically support. This reflects the lasting structural impact of George Eastman’s philanthropic investments, which deliberately seeded institutional capacity across virtually every civic sector.
The median nonprofit Executive Director salary in Rochester is $113,304 as of June 2026 (Salary.com), with typical ranges from roughly $98,000 to $138,000 for mid-to-large community organizations. The New York State ED median is $122,798 — Rochester runs approximately $9,500 below the statewide figure, reflecting its lower cost of living relative to the New York City metro.
Organization size matters enormously. Community nonprofit EDs at organizations with $5M–$20M budgets typically earn $110,000–$175,000 in Rochester. Health system and university executives at the University of Rochester or Rochester Regional Health are in a separate compensation class, with C-suite total compensation regularly ranging from $300,000 to well over $1 million. The CEO of the Rochester Area Community Foundation earned $312,105 in compensation per the most recent IRS 990 filing. Sources: Salary.com Rochester NY ED Median (June 2026); ProPublica IRS 990 filings.
George Eastman’s philanthropic impact on Rochester is arguably without parallel in any American city of comparable size. By his death in 1932, he had given away the equivalent of roughly $2 billion in today’s dollars — most of it directed at Rochester’s institutional foundations. He personally funded the University of Rochester’s medical school, Strong Memorial Hospital’s founding infrastructure, the Eastman School of Music (then considered the most expensive music school building in the world), and the organization that became the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes in 1918.
Eastman’s approach to philanthropy was systematic rather than reactive — he believed in funding institutional capacity rather than one-time charity, and he insisted on co-funding arrangements that required communities to raise matching dollars. That philosophy created self-sustaining institutions rather than dependent ones. The result is a Rochester nonprofit ecosystem whose depth — in healthcare, music, visual arts, food security, community development, and aging services — substantially exceeds what any city of Rochester’s size would develop organically. Rochester nonprofit professionals often describe working in a market where institutional giving has deep roots and where major donors are connected through boards, alumni networks, and family philanthropy spanning multiple generations.
Healthcare and academic medicine generate the highest volume of executive openings in Rochester, driven by the University of Rochester Medical Center and Rochester Regional Health. Finance, operations, philanthropy, patient services, and clinical administration roles at these two systems produce consistent demand. Compensation at this level is the highest in the local market.
Higher education is the second-strongest subsector, with RIT and UR both maintaining active searches for development officers, academic administrators, enrollment leadership, and student affairs executives. Arts administration is a distinctive Rochester strength — the Eastman School of Music, George Eastman Museum, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Geva Theatre all recruit nationally for senior roles. Aging services and disability services are growth areas as the population ages, with Lifespan of Greater Rochester and Al Sigl Community of Agencies among the active employers. Food security (Foodlink) and community foundation grantmaking (Rochester Area Community Foundation) round out a full-spectrum market for senior nonprofit talent.
Rochester’s nonprofit market is generally larger in total employment and more heavily anchored by a single research university — the University of Rochester — than either Buffalo or Albany. Buffalo’s nonprofit anchor institutions include Kaleida Health (the city’s largest employer), M&T Bank’s philanthropic infrastructure, and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, but Rochester’s University of Rochester system is a larger standalone entity than any single Buffalo institution. Albany’s nonprofit economy is shaped by state government-affiliated nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and the Albany Medical Center, giving it a distinctively policy-heavy flavor that Rochester lacks.
For arts administration specifically, Rochester — with the Eastman School, George Eastman Museum, Rochester Philharmonic, and Geva Theatre — competes with much larger cities. For community foundations, Rochester Area Community Foundation’s $510M in assets places it ahead of most Upstate peers. For food security and disability services, Rochester’s Foodlink and Al Sigl operations are larger and more sophisticated than equivalents in comparably sized Upstate markets. Each city has its own distinct nonprofit identity; Rochester’s is built around Eastman’s legacy of disciplined institution-building.
ExecSearches.com is the nation’s leading nonprofit executive job board and the primary platform for senior-level nonprofit roles in Rochester and across New York State. The site reaches 85,000+ subscribers nationally and posts Executive Director, CEO, CFO, CDO, COO, VP, and Director-level roles across healthcare, higher education, arts, human services, foundations, and community development. Browse Rochester-area opportunities directly at execsearches.com/nonprofit-jobs-in-rochester-new-york-usa.
For positions specifically at the University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health, their institutional career portals post executive openings directly. The Rochester Area Community Foundation, United Way of Greater Rochester, Foodlink, and Lifespan all post leadership openings on their own websites as well. National search firms — particularly Isaacson Miller for health system and university searches, and Kittleman and DRG Talent for community nonprofit searches — conduct confidential searches that may not be publicly posted.
Sources
- Cause IQ — Rochester, NY Metro Nonprofits Directory. https://www.causeiq.com/directory/rochester-ny-metro/
- Salary.com — Nonprofit Executive Director Salary, Rochester NY (June 2026). https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/nonprofit-executive-director-salary/rochester-ny
- Salary.com — Nonprofit Executive Director Salary, New York State (June 2026). https://www.salary.com/research/salary/posting/nonprofit-executive-director-salary/ny
- University of Rochester — Economic Impact Report, December 2025. https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/economic-impact-new-report-details-growth-of-university-of-rochester-326062/
- Rochester Beacon — UR Economic Impact Report Coverage, December 2025. https://rochesterbeacon.com/2025/12/18/new-report-highlights-urs-economic-impact/
- Rochester Regional Health — Facts and Statistics. https://www.rochesterregional.org/about/facts-and-statistics
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Rochester Area Community Foundation (IRS 990, FY2025). https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237250641
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — United Way of Greater Rochester (IRS 990, FY2025). https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/161015782
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Foodlink Inc (IRS 990, FY2025). https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/222428304
- Al Sigl Community of Agencies — About Us. https://www.alsigl.org/about-us/
- Lifespan of Greater Rochester — Our History. https://www.lifespan-roch.org/our-history
- New York State Comptroller — The Critical Role of Nonprofits in New York (January 2025). https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2025/01/dinapoli-releases-report-nonprofit-industry
- George Eastman Museum — History. https://www.eastman.org/history-george-eastman-museum
- Wikipedia — Strong Memorial Hospital. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_Memorial_Hospital
- Wikipedia — Rochester Regional Health. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Regional_Health
- ExecSearches.com. https://www.execsearches.com
