Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Andy Steele, Executive Director / CEO ($54,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 306 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 77th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range
Benchmarked executive: Andy Steele — reported title “Director of Operations”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.
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.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Township Perry County Fire Dept Inc | IN | $229,966 | Fire Chief | $599 | $711 | 2024 |
| Lake Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department | NY | $230,088 | Vice President | $3,554 | $3,612 | 2024 |
| Vestal Fire Department Inc | NY | $229,649 | Recording Secretary | $1,000 | $1,046 | 2023 |
| Villas Volunteer Fire Company Inc | NJ | $230,226 | President | $1,000 | $1,004 | 2024 |
| Rebuild Paradise Foundation | CA | $230,879 | Executive Director | $75,500 | $73,334 | 2024 |
| Hope Desoto Long Term Recovery | FL | $230,888 | Executive Di | $68,409 | $72,288 | 2024 |
| Ringgold Volunteer Fire & Rescue Inc | VA | $228,267 | Director | $15,546 | $16,884 | 2024 |
| Cb Avalanche Center Inc | CO | $227,426 | Executive Director | $29,812 | $32,155 | 2024 |
| Keystone Fire Company 1 | PA | $226,607 | Treasurer | $599 | $672 | 2024 |
| Brentwood Volunteer Exempt Firemen's | NY | $226,379 | Secretary | $5,000 | $5,083 | 2024 |
| Community Organizations Active | FL | $233,766 | Ceo | $108,455 | $111,651 | 2025 |
| New York State United Teachers Disaster Relief & Scholarship Fund | NY | $225,980 | Secretary | $136,101 | $138,339 | 2024 |
| Garretson Volunteer Fire Department | SD | $234,627 | President | $1,200 | $1,490 | 2024 |
| Long Cove Volunteer Fire Department | AL | $225,080 | Employee | $128,667 | $156,359 | 2024 |
| New Jersey Association For Floodplain Management | NJ | $234,675 | Exec Director | $12,466 | $12,519 | 2024 |
| Hawtree Volunteer Fire Department Inc | NC | $224,891 | Chief | $256 | $306 | 2023 |
| Floyd Romance Volunteer Fire Department | AR | $224,769 | Treasurer | $1,313 | $1,617 | 2025 |
| Elgin Rural Fire Truck Assn | MN | $235,476 | President | $120 | $134 | 2024 |
| Communities United Inc | FL | $224,071 | Executive Director | $48,000 | $52,220 | 2023 |
| Caldwell Institute For Public Safety | FL | $223,897 | President | $25,000 | $26,418 | 2024 |
| Wellsburg Volunteer Fire Department Inc | WV | $223,428 | Fire Chief | $600 | $731 | 2024 |
| Western Wayne County Fire | MI | $237,161 | Executive Di | $10,200 | $12,192 | 2023 |
| Lindstrom Volunteer Firemen's | MN | $222,499 | Trustee | $4,000 | $4,577 | 2023 |
| Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council | CO | $222,467 | Executive Director | $68,221 | $73,583 | 2024 |
| Flushing Volunteer Fire Department | OH | $222,384 | President | $21,975 | $26,954 | 2023 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2023 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 77th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 79th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 79th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 75th |
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.
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
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.