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

The Gear Foundation Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 205480584
TN · NTEE J30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sandy Krikac, Executive Director / CEO ($62,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 7 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 29th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

7 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 7 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$5,521 total compensation of comparable organizations → $362,560 $62,000
$13,48110th
$40,87625th
$65,614Median
$128,69375th
$259,55490th
$62,000This org · 29th
p10$13,481
p25$40,876
p50$65,614
p75$128,693
p90$259,554
$62,000

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 TN 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
Lenli Group Inc FL$24,384 President $6,000 $5,521 2023
The Waterford Project OH$25,783 Executive Director $66,000 $66,503 2024
Milwaukee Area Workforce Funding WI$28,310 Executive Director $66,040 $65,614 2024
Life And Work Connections Inc MO$28,626 Executive Director $18,646 $18,788 2024
Goodwill Solutions Inc IA$30,917 Ceo $348,058 $362,560 2024
Federation Employment And Guidance Service Inc NY$17,452 Chief Wind-down Officer, Plan Administrator $222,043 $190,883 2024
Nebraska Bankers Association Foundation NE$36,109 President $63,162 $62,963 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TN 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 TN 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 default29th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)29th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted43rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted14th

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 (Sandy Krikac) 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 7 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (J), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $62,000 is reasonable (approximately the 29th 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.