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

Lake Erie Islands Nature And Wildlife

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 275017525
OH · NTEE C30
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Renee Fultz, Executive Director / CEO ($38,767) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 123 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 28th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Renee Fultz — reported title “Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

123 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 123 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,500 total compensation of comparable organizations → $116,413 $38,767
$15,74710th
$35,24625th
$56,492Median
$74,09775th
$84,81490th
$38,767This org · 28th
p10$15,747
p25$35,246
p50$56,492
p75$74,097
p90$84,814
$38,767

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 OH 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
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light PA$271,190 Executive Director $77,767 $71,120 2024
Friends Of Black Rock High Rock Inc NV$269,445 Former Director $10,500 $9,652 2024
Madison-morgan Conservancy Inc GA$269,398 Executive Dir $110,315 $104,725 2023
Phoenix Conservancy WA$269,220 Madagascar Project Manager $42,068 $35,560 2023
St Louis Audubon Society MO$275,320 Executive Director $68,726 $65,034 2025
Salmon Defense WA$275,565 Executive Director $68,690 $58,064 2023
Nebraska Association Of Resources NE$275,886 Executive Director $43,069 $41,386 2025
Outdoor New Mexico NM$276,415 Executive Director $70,640 $69,676 2024
Center For Sustainable Economy WA$277,153 President $98,400 $80,792 2024
Regenerative Earth CO$278,331 Exec Director, Board Chair $67,562 $61,166 2023
The Greenwich Tree Conservancy Inc CT$264,196 Executive Director $54,590 $48,326 2023
Project Regeneration CA$279,043 Executive Director $131,250 $103,935 2024
Greater Oregon City Watershed Council OR$263,413 Executive Dir. $78,680 $67,007 2024
People & Plants International Inc VT$261,027 Co-director $93,000 $85,843 2024
Friends Of Huddart & Wunderlich Parks CA$260,144 Program Director $75,000 $57,860 2025
Bear Lake Watch UT$259,252 Past Exec. Dir. $37,912 $36,635 2023
Blue Scholars Initiative FL$284,046 Program Director $30,468 $26,249 2024
Coast Ridge Community Forest CA$258,775 Executive Dir. $16,465 $13,424 2023
Four Winds Nature Institute Inc VT$285,418 Executive Dir. $63,811 $58,900 2024
Water Climate Trust CA$256,351 Executive Director $81,000 $66,037 2023
Harris Ranch Wildlife Mitigation Association Inc ID$256,059 Conservation Director $53,856 $52,540 2024
Lake Erie Islands Conservancy OH$255,106 Chair $16,000 $15,541 2024
People And Pollinators Action CO$253,840 Executive Di $63,585 $55,914 2024
Nashville Tree Conservation Corps TN$290,930 Former Exec $82,558 $79,582 2024
Coastal Connections Inc FL$291,704 Executive Director $42,000 $37,252 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OH 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 OH 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 default28th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)25th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted29th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted28th

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 (Renee Fultz) 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 123 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $38,767 is reasonable (approximately the 28th 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.