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

Ecology In Classrooms And Outdoors

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 203710367
OR · NTEE C60
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sarah Woods, Executive Director / CEO ($93,836) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 106 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 77th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

106 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 106 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$540 total compensation of comparable organizations → $906,434 $93,836
$21,11510th
$44,35725th
$69,329Median
$88,80075th
$120,63190th
$93,836This org · 77th
p10$21,115
p25$44,357
p50$69,329
p75$88,800
p90$120,631
$93,836

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 OR 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
Seaworthy Foundation Inc FL$431,973 Founder Ceo $80,000 $78,606 2024
Earth Day New York Inc NY$433,796 Executive Di $109,419 $106,470 2023
Wsbz Farms AR$429,747 Executive Dir. $53,550 $64,817 2023
Eco-justice Center Inc WI$436,056 Executive Director $58,700 $64,120 2024
Greater Arkansas River Nature Assoc CO$427,717 Executive Di $85,000 $85,248 2024
Cool The Earth Inc CA$436,919 Exec Dir/boa $55,000 $49,674 2024
California Clean Energy Committee CA$438,983 President $66,000 $61,369 2023
Cloud City Conservation Center CO$424,000 Executive Di $77,650 $80,177 2023
Ecologik Institute CA$421,600 President $18,270 $16,501 2024
Institute For Earth Education WV$452,778 International Chair $7,200 $8,395 2023
30 Mile River Watershed Association ME$408,868 Executive Director $100,722 $105,489 2024
Womens Environmental Institute At Amador Hill MN$457,413 Director Of Operations $6,900 $7,131 2024
Louisville Nature Center Inc KY$458,209 Executive Director $78,440 $88,145 2024
Torrey House Press UT$405,952 Executive Director $69,650 $76,762 2023
Tacoma Tree Foundation WA$459,145 Executive Director $80,639 $77,743 2023
Climate Access Fund Corporation MD$404,259 Ceo $156,583 $153,115 2024
Get Inspired CA$403,267 President $110,000 $99,348 2024
The Outdoor Circle HI$402,928 Executive Director $122,049 $114,290 2024
Blue Ridge Discovery Center Inc VA$461,990 Executive Di $65,423 $66,070 2024
Wesselman Nature Society Inc IN$396,745 Executive Director $63,785 $70,355 2024
Boulder Outdoor Survival School UT$468,884 Executive Dir. $54,998 $58,874 2024
International Association For Near-death NC$470,449 Executive Dir. $13,740 $14,849 2024
Sol Nation Inc NC$471,247 Executive Director $103,833 $112,215 2024
Earthroots Field School Inc CA$391,713 Executive Director $27,335 $24,688 2024
Bees In The D MI$390,684 Vice-president/treasurer $69,735 $77,508 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR 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 OR 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 default77th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)78th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted75th
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 (Sarah Woods) 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 106 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $93,836 is reasonable (approximately the 77th 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.