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

American Freedom Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 050605633
FL · NTEE W30
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ted Hacker, Executive Director / CEO ($132,509) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 83 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 94th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Ted Hacker — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

83 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 83 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$897 total compensation of comparable organizations → $623,003 $132,509
$11,13010th
$20,62925th
$50,000Median
$74,67675th
$91,13390th
$132,509This org · 94th
p10$11,130
p25$20,629
p50$50,000
p75$74,676
p90$91,133
$132,509

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 FL 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
Advocate DC$377,801 Officer $441,381 $400,472 2024
Veterans Ride For Free CT$376,888 Secretary $18,200 $17,644 2024
Vetgroup Inc NJ$376,568 Executive Dir. $51,491 $48,938 2023
Veteran Community Initiatives Inc PA$375,086 President $66,575 $68,644 2024
Hesperus AZ$381,890 Executive Director $86,154 $85,669 2024
Heroes Linked CA$373,514 Ceo $154,418 $137,866 2024
Independence For Veterans Inc NJ$383,925 President $73,517 $69,872 2023
Lake Belton Vfw 10377 TX$384,655 Quartermaster $14,400 $14,509 2025
Special Ops Xcursions TN$366,586 President $55,000 $59,775 2024
Honoring Our Fallen CA$390,886 Ceo\founder $78,667 $70,235 2024
Outdoor Association For True Heroes Inc TX$391,677 Founder, Executive Directo $96,000 $99,290 2024
Sinking Spring Veterans Home Association PA$362,972 Treasurer $24,850 $26,379 2023
Mckinney-montgomery Post 141 OK$358,425 Finance Officer $24,788 $28,222 2024
The Mandatum Foundation VA$355,534 Lead Coach $14,500 $14,476 2024
Newby-ginnings Of North Idaho Inc ID$401,878 Executive Director $52,000 $58,884 2023
Leroy O Buck Post No 7863 Vfw Inc PA$354,076 Employee $46,717 $46,927 2025
Department Of Sc Vfw Of United States SC$404,075 Service Officer $56,000 $58,847 2025
Working Dogs For Vets TN$349,383 President $32,513 $34,425 2025
Idaho Veterans Network Corporation ID$347,789 Director $14,400 $15,430 2025
Hunting With Heroes Inc WY$344,305 Sec-tres-director $18,000 $19,929 2024
Idaho Veterans Chamber Of Commerce ID$343,929 President $80,640 $91,316 2023
It's About The Warriors Foundation PA$415,009 Executive Director/president/secretary $85,980 $88,652 2024
Vallejo Veterans Building Council CA$340,530 Building Manager $22,500 $20,682 2023
Friends Of Fisher House - Illinois Inc IL$419,182 President $45,000 $45,742 2024
Department Of Illinois Vfw Auxiliary Inc IL$326,983 Secretary $14,600 $15,279 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to FL cost of living and 2023 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 FL 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 default94th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)94th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted95th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted93rd

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 (Ted Hacker) 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 83 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (W30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $132,509 is reasonable (approximately the 94th 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.