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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

National Foundation For Autism Research

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 200538863
CA · NTEE G99
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sharon Leon, Executive Director / CEO ($169,916) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 267 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 61st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Sharon Leon — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

267 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 267 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,308 total compensation of comparable organizations → $694,144 $169,916
$55,47510th
$109,90025th
$152,193Median
$201,59175th
$276,16190th
$169,916This org · 61st
p10$55,475
p25$109,900
p50$152,193
p75$201,591
p90$276,161
$169,916

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
The Fred Hollows Foundation NY$2,065,817 Public Officer $288,619 $310,021 2024
Health People Inc NY$2,064,179 Executive Director $91,014 $100,651 2023
Boulder County Aids Project CO$2,063,988 Executive Di $135,326 $154,250 2024
Taconic Resources For Independence NY$2,088,244 Executive Di $106,878 $114,804 2024
Center For Sight & Hearing IL$2,088,672 President $142,159 $161,851 2025
🔒 262 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 CA 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 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 default61st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)70th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted66th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted54th

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 267-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 13, 2026.