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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Upper Midlands Rural Health Network

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 203381102
SC · NTEE E99
FY ending 2023-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Nichols, Executive Director / CEO ($94,561) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 44 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 84th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

44 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 44 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$702 total compensation of comparable organizations → $216,978 $94,561
$13,49310th
$28,86325th
$41,083Median
$78,86275th
$116,76690th
$94,561This org · 84th
p10$13,493
p25$28,863
p50$41,083
p75$78,862
p90$116,766
$94,561

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 SC 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
C-line Counseling Center NJ$260,477 Executive Director $16,500 $13,716 2024
Life Resources Of Georgia Inc GA$255,952 Executive Di $44,098 $41,283 2024
Healthy Hearts Institute CA$262,570 Board Chair $42,857 $35,473 2023
Giving Health Inc GA$263,218 Chief Medical Dir $750 $702 2024
Forbes Medical Staff Fund PA$253,879 President $20,000 $18,569 2024
The Medical Center Auxiliary PA$265,169 President & Ceo $42,768 $40,882 2023
Inteleos Foundation Inc MD$267,449 Ceo/executive Director $40,758 $35,478 2024
Climatework Maine ME$268,900 Director $117,335 $109,391 2024
Pontifex Inc OH$248,028 President $52,000 $52,793 2023
Seashore Gardens Foundation NJ$272,798 Treasurer $253,529 $216,978 2023
Harbor Emergency Medical Education Foundation CA$277,634 Research Assistant $8,980 $7,219 2024
Trellis Horticultural Therapy GA$239,062 Treasurer $36,000 $33,701 2024
What To Expect Project DC$280,090 President & E.d $132,652 $108,379 2024
Northwest Medical Center Foundation Inc MO$280,795 President/ceo $28,195 $28,625 2023
Epiphany Project Inc AZ$281,911 Co-president $47,333 $42,382 2024
Growing Up Together SD$233,422 Executive Director $25,032 $25,058 2025
Messengers For Health MT$292,200 Executive Director $88,626 $91,574 2023
Hooves Of Hope Equestrian Center Inc KY$292,364 President $48,001 $48,015 2024
Servicemembers Undertaking Disabled TX$224,453 Executive Director $84,914 $79,084 2024
Region Ii Emergency Medical Services NM$297,078 Employee $36,400 $37,527 2023
Holdyou Foundation Inc CA$219,511 President Director $52,000 $41,806 2024
Minnesota Masonic Children's Clinic For MN$299,202 President/ceo - Charities $34,208 $32,400 2023
Mountainside Hospital Medical Staff NJ$300,341 President $35,000 $29,095 2024
Children's Health Foundation Inc OR$215,780 Executive Director $7,586 $6,390 2025
Empowering Strides WA$215,474 President $39,515 $32,938 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to SC cost of living and 2023 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 SC 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 default84th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted84th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted64th

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 (Karen Nichols) 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 44 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (E99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $94,561 is reasonable (approximately the 84th 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.