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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Horticultural Society Of New York

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 130854930
NY · NTEE C420
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sara Hobel, Executive Director / CEO ($412,004) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 175 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 97th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Sara Hobel — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

175 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 175 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$13,871 total compensation of comparable organizations → $870,972 $412,004
$99,43710th
$149,82725th
$202,831Median
$265,24475th
$324,12390th
$412,004This org · 97th
p10$99,437
p25$149,827
p50$202,831
p75$265,244
p90$324,123
$412,004

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 NY 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
Summit Land Conservancy UT$10,597,568 Chief Executive Officer $191,011 $210,138 2024
California Environmental Justice Alliance CA$10,671,631 Executive Director $128,592 $119,357 2024
Green Blue Institute VA$10,698,025 Executive Director $374,374 $388,549 2024
Colorado Youth Corps Association CO$10,481,268 Executive Director $130,782 $134,797 2024
Inclusive Prosperity Capital Inc CT$10,811,577 Chief Executive Officer $388,548 $391,594 2024
🔒 170 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 NY 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 NY 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 default97th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)96th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted97th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted97th

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 175-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.