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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Cave Research Foundation Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 316052842
KY · NTEE U110
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kayla N Sapkota, Executive Director / CEO ($2,333) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 124 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 1st percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Kayla N Sapkota — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

124 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 124 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$353 total compensation of comparable organizations → $313,269 $2,333
$10,50410th
$23,66325th
$49,441Median
$94,30575th
$120,45890th
$2,333This org · 1st
p10$10,504
p25$23,663
p50$49,441
p75$94,305
p90$120,458
$2,333

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
Less Death Inc CA$290,067 President And Co-executive Director $34,000 $27,327 2024
Caf Re Inc MT$293,528 President / Executive Director $8,364 $8,392 2024
Akron Fossils And Science Center OH$288,481 Executive Director $40,461 $39,888 2024
Association Of Space Explorers Usa TX$288,370 Executive Director/secreta $109,308 $101,773 2024
Aci Center Of Excellence For Carbon MI$288,265 Secretary/executive Direct $37,064 $35,608 2024
Pacific Impact Zone CA$284,456 Executive Director $82,623 $71,171 2022
Network Time Foundation Inc OR$283,432 Sec/treas $14,950 $12,922 2024
Spark Photonics Foundation Inc MA$298,800 Clerk $30,447 $26,218 2023
Consumer Brands Association Foundation VA$281,213 Acting Ed $66,492 $59,757 2024
Deltaquest Foundation Inc MA$280,722 President And Chief Scientist $335,128 $273,081 2025
Ecological Building Network CA$279,493 Director $39,000 $32,271 2023
San Antonio Community Resource Directory TX$279,408 Executive Dir. $45,213 $42,096 2024
Psychological Clinical Science IN$303,240 Executive Director $130,000 $124,314 2025
Tecbridge PA$277,315 Executive Director $110,677 $105,765 2023
Acpa Foundation IL$277,234 President/chair $35,164 $32,177 2024
Kacyra Family Foundation CA$273,688 Director $26,407 $21,224 2024
Boston Groundwater Trust MA$273,315 Executive Director $126,120 $102,769 2025
Mid-atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory Inc MD$309,847 Executive Director $51,877 $43,980 2025
Nebraska Coalition For Life Saving Cures NE$272,121 Executive Director $99,000 $99,110 2024
North American Associates Of The NY$309,994 Executive Di $98,333 $82,706 2024
Peyton's Project TX$312,255 Executive Director $39,240 $36,535 2024
Santa Rosa Plateau Foundation CA$313,310 Executive Director $57,242 $44,822 2025
California Ocean Alliance CA$267,850 Rotating Member Finance Director $17,280 $13,888 2024
Forever Family Foundation Inc NY$314,593 First Vice President $6,070 $5,256 2023
Institute For Leadership In Capital Projects TX$267,428 Executive Director $56,905 $52,983 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to KY 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 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 default1st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)1st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted10th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted1st

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 (Kayla N Sapkota) 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 124 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $2,333 is reasonable (approximately the 1st 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.