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

Surfaid International Usa

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 141850033
CA · NTEE T20
FY ending 2024-03-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Bahara Stapelberg, Executive Director / CEO ($115,968) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$761 total compensation of comparable organizations → $334,600 $115,968
$10,94310th
$22,66125th
$53,712Median
$83,22975th
$100,48390th
$115,968This org · 92nd
p10$10,943
p25$22,661
p50$53,712
p75$83,229
p90$100,483
$115,968

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 CA 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
Media Cares Foundation Inc NY$285,031 Ceo & Director $20,312 $21,256 2024
Salisbury Urban Ministries Inc MD$287,228 Executive Director $69,500 $75,247 2024
Louisiana Real Estate Foundation LA$288,093 Ceo $23,935 $31,423 2023
Howard & Ethel B Ross Tua 2 FL$268,871 Co-trustee $58,773 $63,940 2024
Unitarian Universalist Friends Retreat Foundation TX$267,927 Trustee $16,099 $19,201 2023
Myelin Repair Foundation Inc CA$267,774 Ceo $120,000 $116,907 2025
Archangels Michale & Gabriel Relief Organization PA$299,435 President $6,000 $7,134 2023
Dress For Success Tampa Bay Inc FL$263,147 Executive Dir. $20,768 $22,594 2024
Western Governors Foundation CO$301,700 President $80,000 $88,836 2024
Oakleaf Endowment Trust For MN$312,757 Trustee (Resigned 12/31/23) $26,962 $31,764 2023
Social Venture Partners Minnesota MN$249,716 Executive Direc $61,000 $69,803 2024
Amistad Cristiana Christian Church TX$248,089 Officer $64,308 $74,497 2024
Vaughan Woods And Historic Homestead ME$315,706 Executive Director $61,748 $73,720 2023
Friends Of Gisaid Inc CA$320,370 In-house Counsel $325,000 $334,600 2023
City County Athletic Complex Inc IN$321,405 Executive Di $52,500 $66,010 2023
Xavier Foundation Inc AZ$322,787 Treasurer/secretary $125,221 $139,465 2024
Equity In The Arts Fund OH$322,812 President $42,714 $52,392 2024
The Travelers Foundation CA$324,293 President Director $18,000 $18,532 2023
Dwi Resource Center Inc NM$238,946 Executive Di $66,560 $82,905 2024
Bee Mighty NC$238,219 Executive Dir. $35,000 $41,881 2024
The Community Y Foundation PA$237,938 President $48,882 $56,452 2024
Connectedconectando Educacion CA$237,933 Ceo $74,475 $74,475 2024
Holt Brothers Foundation Inc NC$327,562 Executive Director $80,250 $96,027 2024
Buffalo Prescott Foundation MI$234,422 Managing Director $37,500 $44,825 2024
Triveni School Of Dance Inc MA$234,173 President $79,846 $85,547 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted66th

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 (Bahara Stapelberg) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (T20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $115,968 is reasonable (approximately the 92nd 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.