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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Communitopia

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 264350431
PA · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Raina Rippel, Executive Director / CEO ($60,853) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 107 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Raina Rippel — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

107 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 107 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,640 total compensation of comparable organizations → $159,453 $60,853
$16,06710th
$33,82625th
$60,674Median
$77,70075th
$93,16390th
$60,853This org · 50th
p10$16,067
p25$33,826
p50$60,674
p75$77,700
p90$93,163
$60,853

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
Passivhausmaine ME$231,619 Executive Director $72,995 $75,461 2023
Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center I NY$231,005 President/founder $92,223 $89,562 2022
Bull Run Mountains Conservancy Inc VA$228,778 Executive Director $127,013 $119,807 2025
Green Mountain Conservation Group NH$239,655 Executive Director $71,725 $68,374 2023
Missouri State Parks Foundation Inc MO$240,020 Executive Director $75,460 $80,145 2024
Sierra County Land Trust CA$241,176 Secretary/tr $36,000 $31,172 2024
Energy & Conservation Law CO$225,726 Executive Dir. $132,385 $127,293 2024
The New Nature Foundation PA$225,354 President $59,000 $59,000 2024
Action Center Inc PA$242,260 Executive Director $58,933 $60,674 2023
Colorado Native Plant Society CO$243,936 - $60,962 $60,349 2023
Riverwood Nature Center Inc WI$223,054 President $18,862 $19,753 2024
Methow Valley Trails Collaborative WA$244,446 Executive Director $51,076 $45,856 2024
Indigenous Peoples Council For AK$244,580 Executive Dir. $57,830 $55,442 2024
Lake Heritage Parks Foundation Inc IN$221,458 Executive Director $11,495 $12,156 2024
Friends Of The Mariana Trench MP$245,976 Executive Dir. $45,866 $45,866 2024
The River Project CA$220,622 President $6,384 $5,692 2023
Transformers Foundation Inc NY$246,889 Executive Director $20,000 $18,123 2024
Iowa Interfaith Power And Light IA$247,131 Exe Director $76,354 $83,835 2024
Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation ID$247,600 Member $1,493 $1,640 2023
Conservation Council For Hawaii HI$247,699 Exectuvie Di $75,000 $67,334 2024
Willowbrook Economic Development IL$249,001 Executive Dir. $92,520 $88,859 2025
Wisconsin Association Of Lakes Inc WI$249,630 Executive Director $71,436 $77,022 2023
Friends Of Lake Elmo's MN$217,060 Board Member $2,013 $1,995 2024
Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear MI$216,955 Executive Director $32,000 $33,121 2024
Nevada Preservation Foundation NV$250,283 President $12,375 $12,439 2024

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 default50th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)47th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted52nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted49th

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 (Raina Rippel) 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 107 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,853 is reasonable (approximately the 50th 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.