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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Cardigan Mountain School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 020223580
NH · NTEE B240
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christopher Day, Executive Director / CEO ($533,455) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 73 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 85th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Christopher Day — reported title “HEAD OF SCHOOL”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

73 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 73 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$91,614 total compensation of comparable organizations → $943,809 $533,455
$154,37210th
$198,97225th
$288,195Median
$446,88675th
$579,24890th
$533,455This org · 85th
p10$154,372
p25$198,972
p50$288,195
p75$446,886
p90$579,248
$533,455

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to NH cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Lycee International De Boston MA$24,069,577 Head Of School $353,636 $354,323 2023
Mounds Park Academy MN$24,056,505 Head Of School $321,467 $354,170 2023
St Luke's School NY$24,044,291 Head Of School (Through 06/2023) $293,973 $287,689 2024
Synapse School CA$24,470,263 Head Of School $661,474 $636,861 2023
Community School Of Excellence MN$24,004,998 Principal $130,042 $143,271 2023
🔒 68 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NH cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to NH cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default85th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)86th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted85th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 73-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.