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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 311251172
OH · NTEE I80N
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Summer Hawks, Executive Director / CEO ($87,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 85 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 68th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

85 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 85 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$12,296 total compensation of comparable organizations → $384,109 $87,000
$41,90510th
$53,13425th
$76,836Median
$93,99275th
$121,09490th
$87,000This org · 68th
p10$41,905
p25$53,134
p50$76,836
p75$93,992
p90$121,094
$87,000

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
Legal Resource Center On Violence Against Women Inc MD$340,335 Executive Director $117,620 $101,146 2025
Southwest Georgia Legal Self-help GA$342,337 Executive Di $33,182 $31,501 2024
World Immigration Center Inc NY$335,018 Secretary $25,829 $22,687 2023
Atlantic Area Court Appointed Casa GA$333,808 Director $76,016 $72,164 2024
Women Against Abuse Legal Center PA$348,150 Executive Director & Presi $12,685 $12,296 2023
Trinity Legal Clinic Of Oklahoma OK$326,987 Executive Dir. $56,347 $58,580 2024
Equal Access Legal Services Inc PA$353,409 Executive Director $90,975 $85,656 2024
Self Help Inc NM$358,462 Executive Dir. $60,320 $63,064 2023
Emergency Legal Responders LA$317,714 Executive Director $80,125 $85,762 2023
Pro Bono Organization For Native HI$362,223 Executive Di $80,000 $67,624 2024
Monroe County Senior Legal Services MI$363,058 Executive Director $69,884 $68,104 2024
Childrens Advocacy Center Of West Texas Inc TX$363,194 Exec Director $66,458 $62,766 2024
The Joseph Project Inc MI$314,352 President $30,000 $30,099 2023
National Veterans Benefits Attorneys Inc FL$365,619 Executive Director $48,750 $44,516 2023
Student Legal Services Inc NY$312,839 Director $94,906 $78,883 2025
Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors AZ$312,535 Executive Dir. $95,351 $86,580 2024
Iron Defense MI$367,750 Executive Director $106,570 $103,855 2024
Financial Protection Law Center NC$370,385 President/e.d. $122,197 $122,731 2023
Servicios Legales Comunitarios Inc PR$309,343 Chief Operating Officer $68,151 $68,151 2024
Connect Immigration CO$306,327 Executive Director $87,000 $78,763 2024
Arizona Crime Victim Rights Law Group AZ$301,434 Executive Dir. $78,125 $70,938 2024
Wyoming Childrens Law Center WY$298,593 Executive Director And Ex Officio Board Member $113,980 $118,639 2023
Community Mediation Dc DC$296,363 Former Executive Director $59,701 $49,463 2024
The Association Of The Federal Bar Of The State Of New Jersey NJ$384,805 Executive Director $64,700 $53,134 2025
Benton Franklin Legal Aid Society WA$294,679 Executive Dir. $63,815 $53,943 2024

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 default68th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)55th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted75th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted67th

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 (Summer Hawks) 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 85 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (I80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $87,000 is reasonable (approximately the 68th 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.