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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Stronghold Fund

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 205602442
OR · NTEE D33
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of David Finkel, Executive Director / CEO ($36,478) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 177 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 5th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: David Finkel — reported title “President/Executive Direct”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

177 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 177 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$6,192 total compensation of comparable organizations → $511,886 $36,478
$79,38110th
$135,13325th
$169,730Median
$208,39675th
$253,61790th
$36,478This org · 5th
p10$79,381
p25$135,133
p50$169,730
p75$208,396
p90$253,617
$36,478

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
Humane Society Of Summit County OH$6,835,533 Executive Director (Begin 7/8/24) $65,078 $72,094 2024
American Quarter Horse Foundation TX$6,808,098 Executive Vice President $21,639 $23,309 2023
Stray Rescue Of St Louis MO$6,802,478 Medical Director $177,920 $202,922 2023
Friends Of The Zoo Inc TN$6,797,155 President/zoo Director $98,641 $105,652 2025
Santa Fe Animal Shelter And Humane NM$6,916,194 Ceo $50,565 $56,883 2024
🔒 172 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 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 default5th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted77th

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 177-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 9, 2026.