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

Washington Square Legal Services Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237392120
NY · NTEE B53Z
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Vincent Southerland, Executive Director / CEO ($21,426) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 930 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 28th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Vincent Southerland — reported title “DIRECTOR & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

930 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 930 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $488,335 $21,426
$6,68110th
$18,12225th
$38,849Median
$64,94475th
$90,58290th
$21,426This org · 28th
p10$6,681
p25$18,122
p50$38,849
p75$64,944
p90$90,582
$21,426

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 NY 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
Moores Memorial Library PA$138,050 Executive Di $48,107 $53,090 2024
Oregon Education Assoc Foundation OR$138,017 Oea President $33,341 $34,264 2024
The Graduate Student Government ME$138,557 President $3,301 $3,564 2025
White Plains Library Foundation Inc NY$138,562 Part Time Executive Direct $72,000 $74,127 2023
Frederick East Classical Inc MD$137,570 Executive Director $15,416 $16,420 2023
The Harry L Dougherty And Sakae K CA$138,680 Executive Dir. $9,827 $9,668 2023
Prince Georges Leadership Action MD$137,500 Lead Senior $80,040 $80,676 2025
American Friends Of Childrens Nursery NJ$137,458 Vice President $56,000 $56,966 2023
Centennial Education Foundation PA$137,344 Executive Director $16,154 $17,827 2024
Middleton Early Learning Center Inc NJ$137,305 Director/teacher $58,307 $56,126 2025
Arizona Nursery Assoc Foundation AZ$137,182 Director $2 $2 2024
Montreat College Foundation NC$137,178 Ceo $58,089 $68,385 2023
Lps Education Foundation Inc MI$136,977 Executive Director(non-vote) $42,850 $47,683 2025
The Heritage Public Library PA$139,270 Library Dire $38,094 $42,040 2024
The Gardiner Foundation NY$139,362 President $4,000 $4,000 2024
Beyond Diversity Resource Center Inc NJ$136,828 Executive Director $72,000 $73,242 2023
Yuda Bands UT$136,783 Secretary $28,500 $32,280 2024
Denison University Research Foundation OH$136,741 President, Denison Univ. $346,508 $418,143 2023
Monster Education Foundation Nfp IL$136,651 Executive Director- President $7,200 $7,833 2024
Laborers' Local 300 Scholarship Fund CA$136,560 Chairman/trustee $163,840 $156,565 2024
Rural Alliance WA$139,800 President $82,202 $81,445 2024
Montessori Public Policy Initiative DC$136,404 Executive Dir. $136,200 $132,266 2024
Greenwood Womens Center SC$136,336 Executive Di $36,625 $42,284 2024
Petersham Memorial Library MA$136,224 Trustee $9,045 $8,763 2025
Bernard M Baruch College NY$136,183 Executive Director $53,031 $53,031 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default28th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)31st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted92nd

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 (Vincent Southerland) 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 930 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (B), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $21,426 is reasonable (approximately the 28th 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.