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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Climate Law And Policy Project Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 260686827
MD · NTEE U05
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Donald Goldberg, Executive Director / CEO ($182,273) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 112 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 99th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Donald Goldberg — reported title “PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

112 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 112 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$406 total compensation of comparable organizations → $313,817 $182,273
$11,52010th
$27,40825th
$55,774Median
$103,25575th
$132,41190th
$182,273This org · 99th
p10$11,520
p25$27,408
p50$55,774
p75$103,255
p90$132,411
$182,273

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 MD 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
Mining And Minerals Education Foundation AZ$267,071 Exec Director $40,000 $40,087 2025
Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation TX$267,106 Ceo $54,904 $58,745 2024
Institute For Leadership In Capital Projects TX$267,428 Executive Director $56,905 $60,886 2024
California Ocean Alliance CA$267,850 Rotating Member Finance Director $17,280 $15,960 2024
Bible Archeology Search And Exploration Foundation CO$263,551 President $20,183 $20,701 2024
Other Internet Research Institute NY$261,816 President $25,346 $25,222 2023
Us Technology Leadership Council VA$261,639 Director And Vp Of Operati $143,000 $147,686 2024
Collaborative Earth Institute CA$261,533 Executive Dir. $23,500 $22,346 2023
Nebraska Coalition For Life Saving Cures NE$272,121 Executive Director $99,000 $113,894 2024
Campersand Co NM$260,814 Executive Director $10,000 $11,504 2024
Institute For Workforce Advancement NY$260,315 Director Of Finance $140,724 $136,016 2024
Boston Groundwater Trust MA$273,315 Executive Director $126,120 $118,100 2025
Kacyra Family Foundation CA$273,688 Director $26,407 $24,390 2024
White Dwarf Research Corporation CO$258,403 Executive Director $157,711 $161,755 2024
Acpa Foundation IL$277,234 President/chair $35,164 $36,977 2024
Tecbridge PA$277,315 Executive Director $110,677 $121,542 2023
Bluechip Ratings Inc DE$255,635 Director, Secretary And Treasurer $25,000 $26,956 2023
Rocks Build America Foundation VA$254,249 Int. Pres. & Ceo (From 10/2024) $59,384 $61,330 2024
San Antonio Community Resource Directory TX$279,408 Executive Dir. $45,213 $48,376 2024
Owner-operator Independent Drivers MO$254,002 Director Of Op. $103,395 $120,596 2023
Ecological Building Network CA$279,493 Director $39,000 $37,085 2023
Assoc Of Computer Science Leagues Inc RI$253,725 Preszident $56,000 $55,956 2025
Deltaquest Foundation Inc MA$280,722 President And Chief Scientist $335,128 $313,817 2025
Consumer Brands Association Foundation VA$281,213 Acting Ed $66,492 $68,671 2024
The Soul Phone Foundation OH$251,286 President, Director $48,000 $55,986 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MD 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 MD 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 default99th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)98th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Donald Goldberg) 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 112 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $182,273 is reasonable (approximately the 99th 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.