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

Cougar Fund Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 311796418
WY · NTEE D30
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Penelope Maldonado, Executive Director / CEO ($100,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 37 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Penelope Maldonado — reported title “MANAGING DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

37 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 37 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,412 total compensation of comparable organizations → $85,373 $100,000
$6,96310th
$18,18525th
$40,754Median
$56,94875th
$71,13790th
$100,000This org · 100th
p10$6,963
p25$18,185
p50$40,754
p75$56,948
p90$71,137
$100,000

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 WY 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
Last Chance Forever TX$271,565 Director $30,004 $28,028 2024
Beavers Northwest WA$264,826 Executive Director $65,006 $55,957 2023
Global Conservation Force Inc CA$280,841 President $54,731 $44,135 2024
Keeper Of The Wild Wildlife Re SC$254,651 Center Mgr $25,988 $26,067 2023
Animal Education And Rescue Nfp IL$286,406 President $53,879 $49,466 2024
Lois E Womer Foundation NJ$290,730 Co-trustee $6,893 $5,747 2024
Izaak Walton League Of America Inc IN$245,211 Recording Se $17,935 $18,185 2023
Orang Utan Republik Foundation Inc CA$295,262 President $12,000 $9,677 2024
Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network SC$243,982 President $60,000 $56,948 2025
Open Door Bird Sanctuary WI$295,913 Executive Director $53,228 $51,913 2024
Philadelphia Metro Wildlife Center Inc PA$297,973 President $28,000 $26,076 2024
Prairie Wildlife Research Inc WI$298,766 Executive Director $76,960 $75,059 2024
North Dakota Wildlife Federation ND$231,568 Executive Director $70,467 $72,217 2024
Msrw MI$231,175 Executive Director $33,020 $32,768 2023
Amargosa Land Trust CA$230,137 Executive Director $83,615 $69,418 2023
Arctic Fox Daily Wildlife Rescue Inc NY$230,049 President $13,500 $11,392 2024
Harmony Wildlife Rehabilitation TN$229,761 President $6,056 $5,945 2024
Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation WY$313,455 Executive Director $70,417 $70,417 2024
Illinois Raptor Center IL$223,801 Program Dir $43,116 $40,754 2023
Mountain Top Wildlife WA$220,300 President $22,600 $18,896 2024
Wildlife Restoration Foundation VA$219,834 President And Board Member $41,760 $37,654 2024
Iowa Wildlife Center IA$323,654 Executive Dir. $5,000 $5,264 2023
Foundation For North American Wild MT$215,222 Executive Di $25,002 $25,911 2023
Idaho Wildlife Federation ID$324,561 Executive Director (Jan-may) $44,235 $43,945 2024
Merritt Island Wildlife FL$214,153 Executive Di $1,609 $1,412 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WY 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 WY 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 default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted97th

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 (Penelope Maldonado) 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 37 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (D30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $100,000 is reasonable (approximately the 100th 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.