Making the switch after 6 years in nonprofit program ops. Just signed an offer so I figured I'd share what the transition actually looked like on the comp side, because every post I found when I was researching was either vague or written by someone with a CS degree.
Where I started: $68k at a mid-sized nonprofit in a HCOL city. Title was "Senior Program Manager." Health insurance was fine, PTO was good, the work was meaningful, the pay was not.
What I targeted for the switch: BizOps, Revenue Ops, or Ops Generalist roles at Series A-C companies. These were the most direct translations of my actual experience without requiring me to learn an entirely new skill set.
Offer I accepted: $105k base + 10% bonus target + standard health/401k + options at a Series B. Total cash if I hit bonus is about $115k. Options: I gave myself a coin flip on whether they're worth anything. I modeled them as zero and was comfortable with the base.
What I negotiated: I came in at $95k offer, countered at $110k citing two things: market rates I'd found for comparable roles (Levels.fyi has some ops data, LinkedIn salary insights for the city, and I pulled a few Glassdoor numbers) and the fact that I was taking a title step back to make the transition (moving from "Senior" to "Manager"). Got to $105k. Not $110k but meaningfully better than the first number.
What I should have negotiated that I didn't: Signing bonus. I was so relieved to have an offer I forgot to ask. Lesson for next time.
The reality check: Yes, $105k is a large step up from $68k. But cost of living has also not moved down. The emotional part of this transition that nobody talks about: you'll likely have coworkers who care less about the mission than you're used to, and that's an adjustment. The money helps.