Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Guilford Volunteer Fire Department

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 036017140
VT · NTEE M24
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Stephen Detra, Executive Director / CEO ($7,821) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 188 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 62nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Stephen Detra — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

188 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 188 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$26 total compensation of comparable organizations → $141,756 $7,821
$55010th
$1,43725th
$4,550Median
$17,39175th
$41,57190th
$7,821This org · 62nd
p10$550
p25$1,437
p50$4,550
p75$17,391
p90$41,571
$7,821

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 VT 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
Jay Volunteer Fire Department Inc FL$329,745 President $3,600 $3,449 2024
Lone Hickory Vol Fire Dept Inc NC$329,933 Treas. $1,800 $1,897 2024
Gatesville Fire Department Inc TX$328,720 Fire Chief $50,871 $51,895 2024
Huntington Manor Volunteer Fire NY$327,323 Chief $1,800 $1,659 2024
Courtney Volunteer Fire Dept Inc NC$332,240 Chief $31,185 $33,832 2023
Thetford Volunteer Fire Department VT$333,849 Fire Chief $35,000 $36,987 2023
Windsor Volunteer Fire Department Inc FL$334,716 Chief $26,000 $24,909 2024
Raymond Harvel Area Ambulance Service IL$337,005 Bookkeeper $1,800 $1,805 2024
Firefighters United For Safety Ethics And Ecology OR$321,631 Executive Director $95,791 $90,718 2024
Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Dept PA$318,223 Trustee $1,643 $1,720 2023
Kings Park Fire Department Inc NY$318,169 Secretary $6,000 $5,529 2024
National Fire Safety Council Inc MI$340,835 President/di $94,753 $99,738 2024
Invincible Fire Company Inc OH$340,930 Treasurer $3,250 $3,510 2024
Belle Plaine Fire Department MN$317,279 President $600 $605 2024
Pocono Mountain Volunteer Fire Company PA$341,708 Fire Chief $1,500 $1,570 2023
Potsdam Volunteer Fire Department NY$316,461 Warden $300 $269 2025
Drewry Volunteer Fire Department NC$344,348 Captain $9,165 $9,657 2024
Cooleemee Volunteer Fire Department NC$314,024 President $15,911 $16,766 2024
West Greenwich Volunteer Fire RI$345,252 President $4,012 $3,822 2025
East Mead Volunteer Fire Company No 1 PA$312,458 Manager Of Operations $38,675 $40,494 2023
Savannah Volunteer Fire Company OH$312,384 Chief $16,020 $17,304 2024
Volunteer Fire Company Of Mt Lebanon Inc PA$346,736 President $666 $678 2024
Clintonville Volunteer Fire PA$311,761 Treasurer $3,000 $3,141 2023
Mineral Springs Volunteer Fire & NC$347,220 Chief $21,938 $23,116 2024
The Voluntown Volunteer Fire Company CT$311,097 President $12,448 $11,902 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VT cost of living and 2025 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 VT 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 default62nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)62nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted63rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted62nd

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:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Stephen Detra) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 188 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (M24), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $7,821 is reasonable (approximately the 62nd percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

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.