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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Water Council Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 264222978
WI · NTEE U21
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dean Amhaus, Executive Director / CEO ($214,642) 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 93rd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Dean Amhaus — reported title “PRESIDENT & CEO”, 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

$802 total compensation of comparable organizations → $668,858 $214,642
$53,88410th
$87,85625th
$124,285Median
$168,48475th
$212,53890th
$214,642This org · 93rd
p10$53,884
p25$87,856
p50$124,285
p75$168,484
p90$212,538
$214,642

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 WI 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
Undersea Technology Innovation Center RI$1,424,053 Executive Director $204,882 $182,715 2024
Scientific Committee On Oceanic Research DE$1,418,560 Exec Director $179,253 $163,239 2024
Spacetec Partners Inc FL$1,439,425 Executive Director $108,297 $94,620 2024
The Plantrician Project FL$1,417,017 Chair Chief Medical Officer $121,200 $109,021 2023
Studio-180 MN$1,446,972 Ceo, Member $80,000 $75,691 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 WI cost of living and 2023 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 WI 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 default93rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)84th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted87th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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.