Comparison · 13 material differences
Gartner C-level Communities vs Financial Executives International
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Leadership network
Verified September 2026 Gartner C-level Communities
Enterprise C-level executives - CIOs, CISOs, CHROs, CDAOs, CFOs and CSCOs - at large organisations, plus business-unit and regional C-level leaders at companies above $500 million…
Professional association
Financial Executives International
Senior corporate finance executives - CFOs, chief accounting officers, controllers, treasurers, tax executives and audit committee members
What the records say
- Role or title: Gartner C-level Communities: Enterprise-wide C-level executive, or a business-unit or regional C-level leader; Financial Executives International: Qualifying title: CFO, chief accounting officer, controller, treasurer, VP of finance, tax, risk management or planning and analysis, a director in those functions, or audit committee member.
- Minimum company revenue: Gartner C-level Communities: Private sector: responsibility for $500M+ in revenue; Financial Executives International: Company must have at least $10 million in annual revenues (or meet an alternative size test).
- Minimum employees: Gartner C-level Communities: Public sector: 1,000+ employees; Financial Executives International: No published minimum employees.
- Minimum net worth: Gartner C-level Communities: No published minimum net worth; Financial Executives International: Alternative company test: $2 million in net worth.
- Annual dues: Gartner C-level Communities: Not publicly disclosed. No membership price appears anywhere on the organisation's site. The commercial model is sponsor-funded: Gartner sells sponsors "unparalleled access to C-level executives at 400+ events each year".; Financial Executives International: $399–499 a year.
Side by side
| Gartner C-level Communities | Financial Executives International | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Leadership network | Professional association |
| Founded | Not documented | 1931 (Founded as the Controllers Institute of America in 1931; renamed Financial Executives Institute in 1962 and Financial Executives International in 2000.) |
| Headquarters | Portland, United States | Morristown, United States |
| Geographic footprint | 101 communities worldwide across 10 countries; CIO and CISO each run 34 communities (24 North America, 7 EMEA, 2 APAC, 1 global), with smaller footprints for CHRO (13), CDAO (12), CFO (5) and CSCO (3) | United States: 56 local chapters listed on FEI's own chapter index, from Hawaii to Long Island |
| Members | 14,000as of September 2026 | 10,000as of September 2026 |
| Chapters | 101 | 56 |
| Primary audience | Enterprise C-level executives - CIOs, CISOs, CHROs, CDAOs, CFOs and CSCOs - at large organisations, plus business-unit and regional C-level leaders at companies above $500 million in revenue | Senior corporate finance executives - CFOs, chief accounting officers, controllers, treasurers, tax executives and audit committee members |
| Typical member | Members are enterprise-wide C-level executives, or business-unit and regional C-level leaders responsible for a private-sector unit above $500 million in revenue or a public-sector body with more than 1,000 employees, who report to the CEO or one level below. Gartner says 93% of the Fortune 100 are represented and 74% of members come from companies above $1 billion in revenue. | Members hold policy-making finance roles at companies across every major industry, from Fortune 500 businesses to mid-sized enterprises. Eligibility requires both a qualifying title and a company that clears a size test. |
| Qualification | ||
| Role or title | Enterprise-wide C-level executive, or a business-unit or regional C-level leaderPublished as "Community Member Criteria" on the application pages.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Qualifying title: CFO, chief accounting officer, controller, treasurer, VP of finance, tax, risk management or planning and analysis, a director in those functions, or audit committee memberFEI describes membership as "exclusive to senior-level financial executives".verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Minimum company revenue | Private sector: responsibility for $500M+ in revenueApplies to business-unit or regional C-level applicants.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Company must have at least $10 million in annual revenues (or meet an alternative size test)Alternative tests are $2 million in net worth or $6 million in capital (combined net worth and long-term debt).verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Minimum employees | Public sector: 1,000+ employeesverified September 2026 · source ↗ | No published minimum employees |
| Minimum net worth | No published minimum net worth | Alternative company test: $2 million in net worthThis is a company balance-sheet test, not a personal net-worth test.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Geographic restriction | Membership is held in a regional community; communities cover North America, EMEA and APAC plus one global communityverified September 2026 · source ↗ | United States; members within 75 miles of a chapter must join that chapterverified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | Sometimes | No |
| Sponsor required | No | No |
| Application process | Apply online with corporate email, title, organisation and revenue band, and confirm reporting line to the CEO. Applications are vetted against the published Community Member Criteria. Successful applicants are contacted by a Community Program Manager, who discusses priorities and completes onboarding including access to year-round events. | Candidates complete an online membership application on the FEI site, which checks the qualifying title and company size test and presents chapter options and rates. Chapter membership is required for those within 75 miles of a chapter. No sponsor or nomination is needed. |
| Selectivity | No acceptance rate is published. Gartner describes membership as "By invitation only" on its homepage while also operating a public application form, and says each application is carefully vetted against established criteria. | No acceptance rate is published. Selectivity operates through the published title and company-size tests and the exclusion of service providers and start-ups. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | Not publicly disclosed. No membership price appears anywhere on the organisation's site. The commercial model is sponsor-funded: Gartner sells sponsors "unparalleled access to C-level executives at 400+ events each year".verified September 2026 · source ↗ | $399–499 a year"FEI membership dues are $399 for first year and $499 for subsequent years for all categories of membership" per the FEI Kansas City chapter. Other FEI chapter sites quote $309 a year for national dues, so the published figure varies by page.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosed; no joining fee separate from first-year dues is published.verified September 2026 |
| Local chapter dues | Not publicly disclosed. The organisation publishes no membership price and monetises through sponsorship rather than published dues. | $75–468 a yearChapter dues are additional and vary by location: FEI Boston publishes $75 a year, FEI Northeast Ohio waives local dues in the first year, and FEI Sacramento lists $468 a year for executive, academic, in-transition and government/military categories, $399 for entrepreneur and $349 for retired. The Sacramento figures may be all-in rather than chapter-only.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Membership term | Not documented | Annual |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Members meet several times a year within their community: in-person executive summits, inner-circle sessions, virtual town halls and curated one-to-one peer meetings; more than 400 programmes run across all communities annually | Local chapter meetings through the year plus national conferences, webinars and CPE-bearing courses |
| Peer forums | Regional role-based communities led by a Governing Body of serving C-level practitioners, rather than standing small-group forums | No standing facilitated peer forum. FEI operates chapters, technical committees and special-interest programming rather than closed advisory groups |
| Confidentiality | Discussions are described as peer-level and off-the-record within community programmes; no published written confidentiality code was found | No published forum confidentiality rule; FEI is a professional association with open programming and a member code of conduct |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Event-focused, Virtual | Chapter-based, Event-focused |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Partial |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | Yes | Partial |
| Online community | Yes | Partial |
| Member directory | Yes | Yes |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | No | No |
| Travel | No | No |
| Family programming | No | No |
| Spouse and partner programming | No | No |
| Next-generation programming | No | No |
| Investment discussions | No | No |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | No | Partial |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Low |
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Last verified: not yet reviewed
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Gartner C-level Communities · Financial Executives International