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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Buffalo & Western New York

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 161535979
NY · NTEE O30
FY ending 2024-10-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michele Letina, Executive Director / CEO ($12,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 18 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 0th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Michele Letina — reported title “SECRETARY”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

18 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 18 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$34,574 total compensation of comparable organizations → $173,798 $12,000
$47,35310th
$58,60825th
$69,163Median
$95,73475th
$147,44290th
$12,000This org · 0th
p10$47,353
p25$58,608
p50$69,163
p75$95,734
p90$147,442
$12,000

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
Champions Of Youth Inc IN$285,623 Executive Dir. $55,120 $66,227 2023
Maine Sports Group ME$254,847 Secretary $31,200 $34,574 2024
Man Up Mentoring Inc FL$247,790 Executive Director And Co-founder $39,200 $40,753 2024
Journey Forward Mentoring TX$306,974 Executive Director $57,500 $65,532 2023
Miracle League Of Connecticut Inc CT$227,040 Executive Director $73,275 $76,031 2024
Volunteers For Youth Inc NC$321,949 Executive Dir. $43,885 $50,181 2024
Mosaic Mentoring Of North Alabama Inc AL$222,541 Ceo $49,900 $61,420 2023
San Miguel Mentoring Program CO$329,675 Executive Di $93,170 $98,867 2024
You Can Mentor Inc TX$331,294 Executive Dir. $157,000 $173,798 2024
House Of Shiloh Family Services Inc TX$342,758 Director $60,000 $66,420 2024
Windsor County Mentors Inc VT$204,140 Executive Dir. $53,145 $57,671 2025
Joshua And Caleb Leadership Centre OH$344,929 President $73,658 $86,336 2024
Ancestral Knowledge Inc MD$200,296 Executor Director $69,500 $71,906 2024
Trusted Mentors Inc IN$360,676 Executive Director $45,972 $55,235 2023
Big Brothers Big Sisters Of The Upstate SC$362,983 Ceo $63,844 $73,708 2024
Great Life Mentoring OR$373,727 Executive Director $99,781 $102,545 2024
Speakhire Inc NY$398,262 Exe. Director $140,275 $144,418 2023
The Mentoring Partnership Of Sw Pa PA$403,179 Executive Director $139,996 $154,498 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 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 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 default0th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)0th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted0th

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 (Michele Letina) 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 18 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (O30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $12,000 is reasonable (approximately the 0th 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.