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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Kentucky Engineering Foundationinc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 310999048
KY · NTEE B82
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Russell Romine, Executive Director / CEO ($4,532) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 226 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 6th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Russell Romine — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

226 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 226 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $328,310 $4,532
$8,89010th
$21,28125th
$44,618Median
$82,04075th
$106,95090th
$4,532This org · 6th
p10$8,890
p25$21,281
p50$44,618
p75$82,040
p90$106,950
$4,532

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 KY 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
Sustainable Tulsa Inc OK$361,589 Executive Dir. $103,188 $108,557 2024
Brian M Anselmo Memorial MO$359,794 Executive Di $79,992 $83,337 2023
Public Relations Society Of NY$359,503 Cfo $57,668 $49,787 2024
Tracy Andrus Foundation TX$359,271 President & Ceo $67,500 $66,415 2023
Wonderfolk OR$357,451 Executive Director $65,000 $59,375 2023
Fort Bend Forward Inc TX$357,207 President And Ceo $9,606 $9,451 2023
Ashby Legacy Fund MN$365,388 President $24,000 $22,657 2024
Machine Tool Technologies CA$355,329 President $144,000 $118,799 2024
Carmel Clay Education Foundation IN$367,192 Executive Director $82,352 $85,423 2023
Texas Tennis Coaches Association TX$354,243 Executive Director Exec Committee $45,000 $43,007 2024
Florence Bernard - Alta Miller MD$368,118 Trustee $54,899 $49,037 2024
Alabama B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation AL$369,891 Director $99,273 $102,466 2024
North Platte Public Schools NE$351,554 Executive Di $59,568 $59,634 2025
Sanger Education Foundation Inc TX$370,741 Executive Dir. $46,000 $43,962 2024
Irish Fellowship Educational & IL$370,872 Executive Director $36,000 $34,813 2023
Inspire Health Foundation Inc KS$349,003 Chief Executive Officer $23,229 $24,684 2023
Athol High School Scholarship MA$348,255 Treasurer $5,000 $4,292 2024
Echoes Of Hope CA$373,618 Executive Dir. $103,000 $87,484 2023
Girls On The Run Maine ME$348,097 Executive Director $83,200 $81,948 2023
Corporation For Global Community MS$374,915 Emeritus - Founding Member $50,470 $53,704 2024
Education For Tomorrow Alliance TX$346,227 President $116,473 $111,314 2024
Help 2 Others Foundation AL$376,377 Executive Director $92,000 $94,959 2024
Oregon Schools Foundation OH$377,264 Executive Dir. $12,000 $12,501 2023
Washington State Potato Foundation WA$377,968 Executive Director $81,332 $69,570 2024
Roever Foundation Inc TX$342,987 President/di $60,120 $59,154 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to KY cost of living and 2025 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 KY 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 default6th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)5th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted71st

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 (Russell Romine) 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 226 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B82), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $4,532 is reasonable (approximately the 6th 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.