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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Children's Hearing Institute Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 133794212
NY · NTEE G124
FY ending 2025-04-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Melissa Willis, Executive Director / CEO ($3,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 29 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 7th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

29 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 29 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$11 total compensation of comparable organizations → $165,175 $3,000
$5,59910th
$18,66225th
$31,127Median
$37,99675th
$90,50390th
$3,000This org · 7th
p10$5,599
p25$18,662
p50$31,127
p75$37,996
p90$90,503
$3,000

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 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
Pathways Foundation Of PA$38,659 Sr. Vp Of Finance $5,233 $5,927 2024
Jewish Blind Of California Inc CA$36,680 Exec Director $18,480 $18,662 2023
Vision Usa - The Ohio Vision OH$35,879 Secretary/tr $26,433 $32,742 2023
The Hubbell Difference Foundation Inc CT$42,687 Secretary $5,775 $6,151 2024
The Enzo Martinez Foundation Inc FL$35,000 Director $11 $11 2024
Vesalius Foundation For Visual NM$43,623 Executive Di $35,500 $44,654 2023
Stillbrave Childhood Cancer Foundation Inc VA$33,820 President $28,380 $31,127 2024
Lions Sight Conservation Foundation Of PA$45,380 Treasurer $9,010 $10,206 2024
Hepatitis C Association NJ$45,947 President $23,515 $23,234 2025
United Cerebral Palsy Of Greater Cincinn OH$30,736 Treasurer $3,460 $4,285 2023
C F Solutions Inc OK$47,121 President $112,451 $144,810 2023
Gerson G And Sandy F Eisenberg MD$29,913 President & Public Dir. Until 07/24 $30,197 $32,069 2024
Hope For Marian CA$47,912 President $12,000 $12,118 2023
San Diego Brain Tumor Foundation CA$48,449 President & Ceo $20,000 $20,197 2023
Orthopedic Institute Of The Good Samaritan Hospital CA$29,201 System President & Ceo $38,737 $37,996 2024
The Emily Stillman Foundation MI$28,330 President $75,000 $90,532 2023
Dare To Care Foundation Inc MD$50,271 Director $59,800 $63,507 2024
The Rensselaer Arc Foundation Inc NY$27,379 Ceo $32,798 $33,666 2024
Brainiacsorg Inc NY$27,108 President $35,300 $36,234 2024
United Cerebral Palsy Association Of MI$26,963 Executive Director $30,536 $35,803 2024
The Joshua Frase Foundation FL$51,271 President $54,855 $60,266 2023
Pdevv Hub Inc IN$26,103 Board Member $25 $30 2023
Mha Of Greater Houston Foundation Inc TX$51,764 Ceo-mha $25,459 $29,783 2023
National Autism Center Inc MA$56,687 Chairperson $161,815 $165,175 2024
Neurorecovery Learning Inc KY$57,728 Director $74,152 $90,496 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 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 default7th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)7th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted45th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted7th

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 (Melissa Willis) 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 29 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (G), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $3,000 is reasonable (approximately the 7th 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.