Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

American Values Action

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 272299035
VA · NTEE R60
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Gary Bauer, Executive Director / CEO ($81,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 23 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 57th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Gary Bauer — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

23 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 23 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,839 total compensation of comparable organizations → $208,023 $81,000
$19,35510th
$33,68225th
$78,875Median
$114,54375th
$144,96990th
$81,000This org · 57th
p10$19,355
p25$33,682
p50$78,875
p75$114,543
p90$144,969
$81,000

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 VA 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
American Firearms Coalition OH$468,236 Secretary $38,000 $42,915 2023
National Center For Justice And Liberty IL$466,432 President $118,059 $120,208 2024
Skylight Engagement Inc NY$497,627 Executive Dir. $82,225 $76,952 2024
Maryland Rise Inc MD$448,800 Former Executive Director $52,272 $52,108 2023
Human & Civil Rights Organizations MA$505,816 Executive Di $84,750 $78,875 2024
National Whistleblower Center DC$439,947 Executive Dir. $182,358 $165,735 2024
Advocates For Trans Equality NY$424,852 Executive Director $21,038 $19,689 2024
Calling All Crows Inc MA$529,796 Former Exec Dir $130,000 $120,989 2024
Surveillance Technology Oversight NY$532,329 Executive Director $108,741 $104,774 2023
Florida Impact Inc FL$414,959 President/ce $92,240 $92,396 2023
Fpc Action Foundation NV$407,462 Vp/gc Thru 3/24, President From 3/24 $200,380 $208,023 2024
Lagniappe Law Lab LA$560,147 Executive Director $100,500 $117,998 2023
National Council On Civil Advocacy Inc DC$389,315 Executive Officer $86,194 $80,651 2023
Constitutional Rights Foundation Of CA$379,628 Executive Director $64,266 $57,474 2024
Global Americans Inc NY$580,449 Executive Director $20,000 $19,271 2023
Ohioans To Stop Executions OH$583,166 Exec Directo $21,023 $23,061 2024
Michigan Voting Rights Foundation MI$595,000 Treasurer/secretary $2,580 $2,839 2023
Rocky Mountain Innocence Center UT$604,231 Executive Di $138,333 $150,964 2023
Advocates For The Environment Inc CA$609,395 Executive Director $127,500 $111,087 2025
Zachor Legal Institute MT$324,448 President $30,000 $33,492 2024
Ceasefire Pennsylvania PA$322,328 Executive Di $11,954 $12,711 2023
North Brooklyn Coalition Against NY$638,004 Executive Di $35,154 $33,871 2023
Cramer Childrens Center Inc AL$692,578 Executive Director $85,943 $96,161 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA 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 VA 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 default57th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)43rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted61st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted48th

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 (Gary Bauer) 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 23 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (R60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $81,000 is reasonable (approximately the 57th 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.