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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Buena Vista Audubon Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237292749
CA · NTEE C300
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Natalie Shariro, Executive Director / CEO ($95,729) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 18 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 83rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

18 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 18 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$975 total compensation of comparable organizations → $275,141 $95,729
$24,23310th
$57,90525th
$81,967Median
$91,04075th
$103,76990th
$95,729This org · 83rd
p10$24,233
p25$57,905
p50$81,967
p75$91,040
p90$103,769
$95,729

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 CA 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
Rescape California CA$499,139 Executive Dir. $96,760 $99,320 2024
Native American Environmental CA$458,322 Executive Dir. $69,450 $71,288 2024
The Earth Organization CA$516,561 Senior Geohydrolog $268,049 $275,141 2024
Carbon Underground CA$435,291 Director, Strategic Partnerships $59,547 $65,508 2022
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $81,162 2024
Coastside Land Trust CA$535,050 Ed Until June $108,018 $114,151 2023
Baduwa't Watershed Council CA$426,600 Board President $55,370 $55,370 2025
True Nature Society CA$546,821 Executive Dir. $28,703 $29,462 2024
Cultural Fire Management Council CA$581,248 President $950 $975 2024
Ocean Futures Society Inc CA$384,635 President $81,210 $85,821 2023
Northshore Environmental Conservancy Inc CA$584,480 President $70,624 $74,634 2023
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $82,772 2023
Wilderness Torah CA$598,285 Int Exec Dir $86,626 $88,918 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $12,031 2024
Earth Discovery Institute CA$613,242 Executive Dir. $86,818 $91,747 2023
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $87,249 2024
Ridges To Riffles Indigenous Conser CA$712,484 Principal Officer $40,633 $41,708 2024
Climate Defense Project CA$716,094 Executive Dir. $90,750 $93,151 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2025 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 CA 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 default83rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)83rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted83rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted83rd

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 (Natalie Shariro) 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 18 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $95,729 is reasonable (approximately the 83rd 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.