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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Downtowners Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 311027473
OH · NTEE B80Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dr Ellen Oshaughnessy, Executive Director / CEO ($4,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 71 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Dr Ellen Oshaughnessy — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

71 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 71 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$197 total compensation of comparable organizations → $215,834 $4,000
$3,50810th
$6,80025th
$15,532Median
$32,74675th
$86,27290th
$4,000This org · 13th
p10$3,508
p25$6,800
p50$15,532
p75$32,746
p90$86,272
$4,000

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 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
The Environmental Charter School PA$24,329 Trustee $54,032 $50,873 2024
Barbara Jordan Institute TX$24,868 Executive Director $3,607 $3,508 2023
Painting Hope MN$24,886 President $25,500 $23,790 2024
The Gavin Dillard Poetry Library And Archive Inc NC$24,034 Founder $900 $878 2024
National Marine Inst Inc FL$25,115 Executive Director $21,600 $19,158 2024
Mcfarlane-cure Charitable Trust WI$23,904 Trustee $200 $197 2024
Educate Nky Inc KY$23,868 President & $114,583 $116,229 2024
Raise A Child Of The Carolinas NC$25,544 Ceo $3,992 $3,894 2024
Laker Educational Foundation MN$23,401 Executive Dir. $6,590 $5,989 2025
Literacy Volunteers Of Fauquier County VA$23,398 Executive Director $11,000 $10,028 2024
Cardinal Funds Inc IN$25,806 Board Member $30,811 $31,583 2023
The Kinkaid Investments Foundation TX$25,940 Cfo $42,194 $41,027 2023
Tidioute Library Association Inc PA$25,967 Executive Director $20,873 $20,234 2023
Local 417 Scholarship Fund NY$22,978 Trustee $108,364 $90,069 2025
The Freidenrich Support Foundation CA$26,259 Director/secretary/treasurer $31,436 $25,629 2024
Achieving Academic Success CO$22,822 Executive Director $17,050 $15,436 2024
American Chiropractic Foundation VA$26,437 Executive Vice President $17,826 $16,731 2023
Berlin Free Library Association CT$26,698 Head Librarian $15,068 $13,339 2024
Sheffield Township Library PA$26,715 Librarian $15,152 $14,266 2024
Elias E Tucker Trust Fund ME$22,394 President/director $228,295 $215,834 2024
The Exploris Foundation NC$22,055 Board Member $9,462 $9,503 2023
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 104 Scholarship Fund MA$27,060 President $90,715 $79,238 2023
The Professional Institute For PA$21,644 Executive Director $35,000 $33,927 2023
Norris Square Education Corporation PA$21,499 Ceo-xiente $16,868 $15,882 2024
Sizer School Foundation Inc MA$21,296 Board Memeber $6,749 $5,895 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 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 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted11th

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 (Dr Ellen Oshaughnessy) 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 71 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (B), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $4,000 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.