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

Columbus Organizing Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 311467082
OH · NTEE S20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Robert T Sievert-wagner, Executive Director / CEO ($78,901) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 73rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Robert T Sievert-wagner — reported title “Lead Organizer”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$30,000 total compensation of comparable organizations → $89,719 $78,901
$34,71110th
$43,33725th
$65,506Median
$77,13875th
$86,32090th
$78,901This org · 73rd
p10$34,711
p25$43,337
p50$65,506
p75$77,138
p90$86,320
$78,901

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
Main Street Medina Inc OH$329,790 Executive Director $68,377 $68,377 2024
Westown Community Development Corp OH$398,892 Executive Di $84,078 $84,078 2024
Associated Neighborhood Centers OH$410,835 Executive Director $48,500 $48,500 2024
Leipsic Community Center OH$416,554 Executive Di $31,185 $31,185 2024
Shaker Heights Development Corporation OH$290,507 Executive Director $89,719 $89,719 2024
Historic Downtown Millersburg Inc OH$426,715 Executive Director $41,667 $41,667 2024
Elyria Community Partnership OH$280,473 Executive Director $79,276 $79,276 2024
North Union Farmers Market OH$430,713 Executive Di $87,814 $87,814 2024
Downtown Mansfield Inc OH$433,938 Executive Di $67,784 $69,786 2023
Neighborhood Conservation Services OH$446,181 Exec Dir $59,246 $60,996 2023
J Jireh Development Corp OH$489,023 Executive Di $30,000 $30,000 2024
South Euclid Community Urban Redevelopment Corp OH$491,400 Executive Director Former $65,506 $65,506 2024
Riverview International Center Inc OH$494,255 Executive Di $75,000 $75,000 2024
Gertrude Wood Community Foundation OH$499,224 Affordable Housing Director $45,006 $45,006 2024
The Dayton Equity Center OH$524,562 Executive Dir. $40,000 $40,000 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 default73rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)73rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted80th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted73rd

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 (Robert T Sievert-wagner) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (S20) + OH + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $78,901 is reasonable (approximately the 73rd 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.