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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 263862631
PA · NTEE D20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Melissa Levy, Executive Director / CEO ($173,915) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 127 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

127 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 127 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$5,936 total compensation of comparable organizations → $256,995 $173,915
$79,18110th
$111,44425th
$148,710Median
$174,08675th
$206,90890th
$173,915This org · 75th
p10$79,181
p25$111,444
p50$148,710
p75$174,086
p90$206,908
$173,915

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 PA 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
Asheville Humane Society Inc NC$5,771,715 Executive Di $157,891 $163,596 2024
Pets In Need CA$5,784,160 Chief Executive Officer $194,924 $168,784 2024
St Tammany Humane Society LA$5,787,847 Ceo $180,775 $205,506 2023
World Animal Protection NY$5,752,726 Executive Director $201,504 $187,983 2023
Humane Society Of San Antonio TX$5,829,000 President/ceo $170,758 $176,345 2023
🔒 122 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA 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 PA 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)68th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted78th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 127-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.