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

Fresh Pond Research Institute Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 043278769
MA · NTEE U20
FY ending 2024-10-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steven Orzack, Executive Director / CEO ($57,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 100 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 51st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

100 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 100 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,789 total compensation of comparable organizations → $326,490 $57,000
$11,81310th
$28,43325th
$53,208Median
$99,69275th
$125,56590th
$57,000This org · 51st
p10$11,813
p25$28,433
p50$53,208
p75$99,692
p90$125,565
$57,000

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 MA 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
Advanced Heliophysics CA$235,524 President Ceo $122,018 $120,713 2023
Mississippi Engineering Society MS$237,479 Executive Director $48,126 $59,648 2024
The Plastic Ocean Project Inc NC$237,608 Executive Director $7,666 $8,815 2024
Northern Research Technical Assistance Center CO$237,609 President $15,019 $16,500 2023
Riseup Labs WA$231,709 Treasurer $13,202 $13,542 2023
Klamath Outdoor Science School OR$230,487 Assistant Executive Director $56,293 $59,893 2023
Sarah Mack Scicomm Inc PA$227,239 Executive Director $118,065 $131,022 2024
American Technical Education Association MN$224,689 Executive Dir. $98,108 $107,879 2024
At The Epicenter CO$223,582 Diretor $4,500 $4,944 2023
The Lawn Institute Foundation IL$223,122 Executive Director $10,775 $12,136 2023
Rocky Mtn Mathematics Consortium I AZ$222,354 President $105,194 $112,582 2024
The Micropaleontology Press NY$247,984 Exe. Editor $52,000 $52,290 2024
Median Foundation CA$221,309 Director, Secretary $31,950 $31,609 2023
Tek Collaborative Inc MA$221,205 President $95,250 $98,063 2023
Cultural Heritage Imaging CA$249,370 President $48,750 $46,845 2024
Metaverse Standards Forum Inc OR$220,420 Executive Director $54,360 $57,837 2023
Cyberdrone Challenge MD$250,002 Treasurer $10,000 $10,404 2024
Transparency Coalition Action Fund WA$250,168 Chair $30,000 $30,772 2023
Engineering Change Lab - Usa NE$251,213 President Executive Director $62,400 $76,893 2023
The Soul Phone Foundation OH$251,286 President, Director $48,000 $58,246 2023
Washington State Academy Of Sciences WA$218,480 Executive Director $9,962 $9,925 2024
Assoc Of Computer Science Leagues Inc RI$253,725 Preszident $56,000 $58,216 2025
Owner-operator Independent Drivers MO$254,002 Director Of Op. $103,395 $125,466 2023
Octo WA$215,773 Director And President $110,000 $109,595 2024
Rocks Build America Foundation VA$254,249 Int. Pres. & Ceo (From 10/2024) $59,384 $63,807 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default51st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)60th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted53rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted43rd

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 (Steven Orzack) 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 100 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $57,000 is reasonable (approximately the 51st 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.