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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Daily Nebraskan

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237351374
NE · NTEE A33Z
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Allen Vaughan, Executive Director / CEO ($92,265) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 53 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 68th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Allen Vaughan — reported title “general manager”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

53 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 53 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,694 total compensation of comparable organizations → $258,943 $92,265
$26,33710th
$49,30525th
$74,302Median
$108,01675th
$135,34990th
$92,265This org · 68th
p10$26,337
p25$49,305
p50$74,302
p75$108,016
p90$135,349
$92,265

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 NE 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
The Library Of American Landscape MA$470,525 Executive Dir. $128,322 $110,048 2024
Real News Project Inc NY$475,910 President $155,000 $133,668 2024
Undercurrent Inc CA$454,388 President $88,500 $75,086 2023
The Ipswich Local News Inc MA$480,015 President & Director $51,912 $45,834 2023
Students Publishing Co Inc IL$480,101 General Manager $103,500 $97,107 2024
New Mexico In Depth Inc NM$481,940 Director $85,000 $89,826 2023
Adventist Forum CA$446,626 Exec Editor $60,100 $50,990 2023
America's Survival Inc MD$489,252 President $4,250 $3,694 2025
Journal Of Consumer Research Inc IL$492,011 Secretary $127,013 $119,169 2024
Echo Publishing MI$439,510 Vice Preside $48,000 $47,282 2024
Primary Information Inc NY$439,309 Executive Director $93,649 $80,761 2024
Bay City News Foundation CA$493,508 Executive Director $20,000 $16,482 2024
Aspen Journalism CO$494,180 Executive Director $97,460 $91,821 2023
Zyzzyva Inc CA$435,626 Executive Director $131,074 $108,016 2024
Simpson Street Free Press Inc WI$434,818 Executive Director $82,414 $84,567 2023
A Public Space Literary Projects Inc NY$500,626 Executive Director $130,000 $115,420 2023
Firecracker Forum Inc CA$501,846 President $160,025 $135,769 2023
Restless Books Inc MA$506,393 Director And Publisher $85,000 $75,049 2023
Benitolink Inc CA$424,646 Executive Dir. $66,560 $54,851 2024
Four Way Books Inc NY$410,023 Publisher And Executive Editor $83,687 $74,302 2023
Annals Of Family Medicine Inc KS$524,500 Director $75,030 $77,357 2024
Campus Communications Inc FL$528,422 Presidentgeneral Manager $62,696 $54,761 2025
Plymouth Rock Publishing Corp MA$399,994 Director $37,000 $32,668 2023
Authors Alliance Inc CA$394,839 Executive Dir. $153,713 $130,414 2023
Legion For The Survival Of Freedom Inc CA$539,233 President $22,050 $18,171 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NE 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 NE 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 default68th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)60th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted72nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted66th

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 (Allen Vaughan) 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 53 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $92,265 is reasonable (approximately the 68th 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.