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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

American Water Works Association

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237026165
CO · NTEE W038
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Devon Buckels, Executive Director / CEO ($113,400) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 386 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 70th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Devon Buckels — reported title “Exec Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

386 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 386 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$559 total compensation of comparable organizations → $864,260 $113,400
$17,94310th
$49,00225th
$81,501Median
$122,44975th
$160,65490th
$113,400This org · 70th
p10$17,943
p25$49,002
p50$81,501
p75$122,449
p90$160,654
$113,400

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 CO 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
Leadership Northeast PA$571,230 Executive Di $91,838 $92,771 2024
Vepp Inc VT$573,152 Executive Director, Secretary $186,240 $195,494 2023
Grassroot Projects WA$573,841 Board Member / Part-time Exec. Dir. (Wa) $50,681 $45,963 2024
Transportation Advocacy Group TX$568,589 Executive Di $148,750 $150,725 2024
Soldier's Wish OK$575,572 Executive Director $68,878 $76,827 2024
🔒 381 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 CO 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 CO 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 default70th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)69th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted74th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted63rd

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 386-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.