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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Boston Groundwater Trust

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 201941686
MA · NTEE U42
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christian Simonelli, Executive Director / CEO ($126,120) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 119 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 85th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

119 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 119 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$433 total compensation of comparable organizations → $335,128 $126,120
$12,42410th
$28,08725th
$58,508Median
$109,30775th
$145,70990th
$126,120This org · 85th
p10$12,424
p25$28,087
p50$58,508
p75$109,307
p90$145,709
$126,120

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 MA 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
Kacyra Family Foundation CA$273,688 Director $26,407 $26,047 2024
Nebraska Coalition For Life Saving Cures NE$272,121 Executive Director $99,000 $121,628 2024
Acpa Foundation IL$277,234 President/chair $35,164 $39,488 2024
Tecbridge PA$277,315 Executive Director $110,677 $129,797 2023
California Ocean Alliance CA$267,850 Rotating Member Finance Director $17,280 $17,044 2024
Institute For Leadership In Capital Projects TX$267,428 Executive Director $56,905 $65,021 2024
San Antonio Community Resource Directory TX$279,408 Executive Dir. $45,213 $51,661 2024
Ecological Building Network CA$279,493 Director $39,000 $39,604 2023
Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation TX$267,106 Ceo $54,904 $62,735 2024
Mining And Minerals Education Foundation AZ$267,071 Exec Director $40,000 $42,809 2025
Climate Law And Policy Project Inc MD$266,745 President/chairman $182,273 $194,652 2024
Deltaquest Foundation Inc MA$280,722 President And Chief Scientist $335,128 $335,128 2025
Consumer Brands Association Foundation VA$281,213 Acting Ed $66,492 $73,334 2024
Bible Archeology Search And Exploration Foundation CO$263,551 President $20,183 $22,106 2024
Network Time Foundation Inc OR$283,432 Sec/treas $14,950 $15,859 2024
Pacific Impact Zone CA$284,456 Executive Director $82,623 $87,342 2022
Other Internet Research Institute NY$261,816 President $25,346 $26,934 2023
Us Technology Leadership Council VA$261,639 Director And Vp Of Operati $143,000 $157,716 2024
Collaborative Earth Institute CA$261,533 Executive Dir. $23,500 $23,864 2023
Campersand Co NM$260,814 Executive Director $10,000 $12,286 2024
Institute For Workforce Advancement NY$260,315 Director Of Finance $140,724 $145,252 2024
White Dwarf Research Corporation CO$258,403 Executive Director $157,711 $172,740 2024
Aci Center Of Excellence For Carbon MI$288,265 Secretary/executive Direct $37,064 $43,699 2024
Association Of Space Explorers Usa TX$288,370 Executive Director/secreta $109,308 $124,898 2024
Akron Fossils And Science Center OH$288,481 Executive Director $40,461 $48,952 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default85th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)89th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted76th

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 (Christian Simonelli) 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 119 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $126,120 is reasonable (approximately the 85th 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.