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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.36


                        THE DUN & BRADSTREET CORPORATION
                               CASH INCENTIVE PLAN

1.      PURPOSE OF THE PLAN

                The purpose of the Plan is to advance the interests of the
Company and its stockholders by providing incentives in the form of periodic
cash bonus awards to certain management employees of the Company and its
Affiliates, thereby motivating such employees to attain performance goals
articulated under the Plan.

2.      DEFINITIONS

                The following capitalized terms used in the Plan have the
respective meanings set forth in this Section:

                (a)     Act: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or
                        any successor thereto.

                (b)     Affiliate: With respect to the Company, any entity
                        directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by , or
                        under common control with, the Company or any other
                        entity designated by the Board in which the Company or
                        an Affiliate has an interest.

                (c)     Award: A periodic cash bonus award granted pursuant to
                        the Plan.

                (d)     Beneficial Owner: As such term is defined in Rule 13d-3
                        under the Act (or any successor rule thereto).

                (e)     Board: The Board of Directors of the Company.

                (f)     Change in Control: The occurrence of any of the
                        following events:

                        (i) any "Person" as such term is used in Section 13(d)
                        and 14(d) of the Act (other than the Company, any
                        trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an
                        employee benefit plan of the Company, or any company
                        owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of
                        the Company in substantially the same proportions as
                        their ownership of stock of the Company), becomes the
                        Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities
                        of the Company representing 20% or more of the combined
                        voting power of the Company's then outstanding
                        securities;

                        (ii) during any period of twenty-four months (not
                        including any period prior to the Effective Date),
                        individuals who at the beginning of such period
                        constitute the Board, and any new director (other than
                        (A) a director nominated by a Person who has entered
                        into an agreement with the Company to effect a
                        transaction described in Sections 2(e)(i), (iii) or (iv)
                        of the Plan, (B) a director nominated by any Person
                        (including the Company) who publicly announces an
                        intention to take or to consider taking actions
                        (including, but not limited to, an actual or threatened
                        proxy contest) which if consummated would constitute a
                        Change in Control or


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                        (C) a director designated by any Person who is the
                        Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities
                        of the Company representing 10% or more of the combined
                        voting power of the Company's securities) whose election
                        by the Board or nomination for election by the Company's
                        stockholders was approved in advance by a vote of at
                        least two-thirds (2/3) of the directors then still in
                        office who either were directors at the beginning of the
                        period or whose election or nomination for election was
                        previously so approved, cease for any reason to
                        constitute at least a majority thereof;

                        (iii) the stockholders of the Company approve a merger
                        or consolidation of the Company with any other
                        corporation, other than a merger or consolidation (A)
                        which would result in the voting securities of the
                        Company outstanding immediately prior thereto continuing
                        to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by
                        being converted into voting securities of the surviving
                        entity) more than 50% of the combined voting power of
                        the voting securities of the Company or such surviving
                        entity outstanding immediately after such merger or
                        consolidation and (B) after which no Person would hold
                        20% or more of the combined voting power of the then
                        outstanding securities of the Company or such surviving
                        entity; or

                        (iv) the stockholders of the Company approve a plan of
                        complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement for
                        the sale or disposition by the Company of all or
                        substantially all of the Company's assets.

                (g)     Code: The internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or
                        any successor thereto.

                (h)     Committee: The Compensation and Benefits Committee of
                        the Board, or any successor thereto or any other
                        committee designated by the Board to assume the
                        obligations of the Committee hereunder.

                (i)     Company: The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

                (j)     Effective Date: The date on which the Plan takes effect,
                        as defined pursuant to Section 13 of the Plan.

                (k)     Participant: An employee of the Company or any of its
                        Affiliates who is selected by the Committee to
                        participate in the Plan pursuant to Section 4 of the
                        Plan.

                (l)     Performance Period: The calendar year or any other
                        period that the Committee, in its sole discretion, may
                        determine.

                (m)     Person: As such term is used for purposes of Section
                        13(d) or 14(d) of the Act or any successor sections
                        thereto.


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                (n)     Plan: The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation Cash Incentive
                        Plan.

                (o)     Shares: Shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per
                        Share, of the Company.

                (p)     Subsidiary: A subsidiary corporation, as defined in
                        Section 424(f) of the Code (or any successor section
                        thereto).

3.      ADMINISTRATION

                The Plan shall be administered by the Committee or such other
persons designated by the Board. The Committee shall have the authority to
select the employees to be granted Awards under the Plan, to determine the size
and terms of an Award (subject to the limitations imposed on Awards in Section 5
below), to modify the terms of any Award that has been granted, to determine the
time when Awards will be made and the Performance Period to which they relate,
to establish performance objectives in respect of such Performance Periods and
to determine whether such performance objectives were attained. The Committee is
authorized to interpret the Plan, to establish, amend and rescind any rules and
regulations relating to the Plan, and to make any other determinations that it
deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the Plan; provided,
however, that any action permitted to be taken by the Committee may be taken by
the Board, in its discretion. The Committee may correct any defect or omission
or reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan in the manner and to the extent the
Committee deems necessary or desirable. Any decision of the Committee in the
interpretation and administration of the Plan, as described herein, shall lie
within its sole and absolute discretion and shall be final, conclusive and
binding on all parties concerned. Determinations made by the Committee under the
Plan need not be uniform and may be made selectively among Participants, whether
or not such Participants are similarly situated. The Committee shall have the
right to deduct from any payment made under the Plan any federal, state, local
or foreign income or other taxes required by law to be withheld with respect to
such payment. The Committee may delegate to one or more employees of the Company
or any of its Subsidiaries the authority to take actions on its behalf pursuant
to the Plan.

4.      ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION

                The Committee shall designate, from employees recommended by
Company management, those persons who shall be Participants for each Performance
Period. Participants shall be selected from among the employees of the Company
and any of its Subsidiaries who are in a position to have a material impact on
the results of the operations of the Company or of one or more of its
Subsidiaries. The designation of Participants may be made individually or by
groups or classifications of employees, as the Committee deems appropriate.

5.      AWARDS

                (a)     Performance Goals. A Participant's Award shall be
                        determined based on the attainment of written
                        performance goals recommended by the Chief Executive
                        Officer and approved by the Committee for a Performance
                        Period established by the Committee. The performance
                        goals shall be based on criteria which may or may not be
                        objective. Objective criteria


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                        include, but are not limited to, the following: (i)
                        earnings before or after taxes (including earnings
                        before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization);
                        (ii) net income; (iii) operating income; (iv) earnings
                        per Share; (v) book value per Share; (vi) return on
                        stockholders' equity; (vii) expense management (viii)
                        return on investment before or after the cost of
                        capital; (iv) improvements in capital structure; (x)
                        profitability of an identifiable business unit or
                        product; (xi) maintenance or improvement of profit
                        margins (xii) stock price; (xiii) market share; (xiv)
                        revenues or sales; (xv) costs; (xvi) cash flow; (xvii)
                        working capital (xviii) return on assets; (xix) economic
                        value added; (xx) customer satisfaction; (xxi) changes
                        in net assets (whether or not multiplied by a constant
                        percentage intended to represent the cost of capital)
                        and (xxii) employee satisfaction. The foregoing criteria
                        may relate to the Company, one or more of its
                        Subsidiaries or one or more of its divisions, units,
                        partnerships, joint ventures or minority investments,
                        product lines or products or any combination of the
                        foregoing, and may be applied on an absolute basis
                        and/or be relative to one or more peer group companies
                        of indices, or any combination thereof, all as the
                        Committee shall determine. In addition, the performance
                        goals may be calculated without regard to extraordinary
                        items or accounting changes.

                (b)     Payment. The amount of the Award actually paid to a
                        given Participant may be less or more than the amount
                        determined by the applicable performance goal formula,
                        at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer. The
                        amount of the Award determined by the Committee for a
                        Performance Period shall be paid to the participant at
                        such time as determined by the Committee in its sole
                        discretion after the end of such Performance Period.

                (c)     Termination of Employment. If a Participant dies,
                        retires, is assigned to a different position or is
                        granted a leave of absence, or if the Participant's
                        employment is otherwise terminated (except with cause by
                        the Company, as determined by the Committee in its sole
                        discretion) during a Performance Period, a pro rata
                        share of the Participant's award based on the period of
                        actual participation may, at the Committee's or the
                        Chief Executive Officer's discretion, be paid to the
                        Participant after the end of the Performance Period if
                        it would have become earned and payable had the
                        Participant's employment status not changed.

6.      AMENDMENTS OR TERMINATION

                The Board or the Committee may amend, alter or discontinue the
Plan, but no amendment, alteration or discontinuation shall be made which would
diminish any of the rights under any Award theretofore granted to a Participant
under the Plan without such Participant's consent; provided, however, that the
Board or the Committee may amend the Plan in such manner as it deems necessary
to permit the granting of Awards meeting the requirements of the Code or other
applicable laws. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Board or
the


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Committee may not amend, alter or discontinue the provisions relating to Section
10(b) of the Plan after the occurrence of a Change in Control.

7.      NO RIGHT TO EMPLOYMENT

                Neither the Plan nor any action taken hereunder shall be
construed as giving any Participant or other person any right to continue to be
employed by or perform services for the Company or any Subsidiary, and the right
to terminate the employment of or performance of services by any Participant at
any time and for any reason is specifically reserved to the Company and its
Subsidiaries.

8.      NONTRANSFERABILITY OF AWARDS

                An Award shall not be transferable or assignable by the
Participant otherwise than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution.

9.      REDUCTION OF AWARDS

                Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Committee
or the Chief Executive Officer, in its, his or her sole discretion (but subject
to applicable law), may reduce any amounts payable to any Participant hereunder
in order to satisfy any liabilities owed to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries by the Participant.

10.     ADJUSTMENTS UPON CERTAIN EVENTS

                (a)     Generally. In the event of any change in the outstanding
                        Shares by reason of any Share dividend or split,
                        reorganization, recapitalization, merger, consolidation,
                        spin-off, combination or exchange of Shares or other
                        corporate exchange, or any distribution to stockholders
                        of Shares other than regular cash dividends or any
                        similar transaction to the foregoing, the Committee in
                        its sole discretion and without liability to any person
                        may make such substitution or adjustment, if any, as it
                        deems to be equitable, as to any affected terms of
                        outstanding Awards.

                (b)     Change in Control. In the event that (i) a Participant's
                        employment is actually or constructively terminated
                        during a given Performance Period (the "Affected
                        Performance Period") and (ii) a Change in Control shall
                        have occurred within the 365 days immediately preceding
                        the date of such termination, then such Participant
                        shall receive, promptly after the date of such
                        termination, an Award for the Affected Performance
                        Period as if the performance goals for such Performance
                        Period had been achieved at 100%.

11.     MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

                The Company is the sponsor and legal obligor under the Plan and
shall make all payments hereunder, other than any payments to be made by any of
the Subsidiaries (in which case payment shall be made by such Subsidiary, as
appropriate). The Company shall not be


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required to establish any special or separate fund or to make any other
segregation of assets to ensure the payment of any amounts under the Plan, and
the Participants' rights to the payment hereunder shall be no greater than the
rights of the Company's (or Subsidiary's) unsecured creditors. All expenses
involved in administering the Plan shall be borne by the Company.

12.     CHOICE OF LAW

                The Plan shall be governed by and construed in accordance with
the laws of the State of Delaware applicable to contracts made and to be
performed in the State of Delaware.

13.     EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PLAN

                The Plan shall be effective as of October 18, 2000.