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

Way Public Library Foundation And

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 341712599
OH · NTEE B70
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lisa Richard, Executive Director / CEO ($23,315) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 70 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: Lisa Richard — reported title “ADMINISTRATO”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

70 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 70 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$277 total compensation of comparable organizations → $110,651 $23,315
$20,00810th
$34,92325th
$46,483Median
$57,45375th
$69,20790th
$23,315This org · 13th
p10$20,008
p25$34,923
p50$46,483
p75$57,453
p90$69,207
$23,315

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
Sykesville Public Library PA$300,986 Director $17,191 $16,186 2023
Ellwood City Area Public Library PA$289,774 Director $40,000 $36,581 2024
Hill House Ministries TX$306,113 Executive Director $81,525 $76,996 2023
Brunswick Community Library NY$286,139 Library Director $70,246 $58,212 2024
The Sherburne Public Library NY$308,932 Trustee-nonvoting $37,077 $30,725 2024
Heermance Memorial Library NY$309,965 Director $65,557 $55,931 2023
Red Jacket Community Library NY$310,159 Director $50,766 $40,985 2025
The Heritage Library Foundation Inc SC$311,475 Executive Director $59,834 $58,935 2023
Dr Evarts Library District NY$312,398 Director $9,231 $7,876 2023
Clearwater Memorial Public Library ID$280,452 Secretary $38,116 $37,184 2024
The Book Truck Inc CA$279,238 Executive Director $67,317 $53,308 2024
Whitefield Library ME$316,853 Manager $6,675 $6,311 2023
Dillsburg Public Library PA$274,559 Library Dire $48,537 $44,388 2024
Northeast Minneapolis Tool Library MN$273,877 Executive Director $41,512 $37,617 2024
Apalachin Library Association NY$272,931 Director $42,120 $34,904 2024
Comfort Public Library Inc TX$322,691 Library Director $48,456 $45,764 2023
The Danish American Archive And Lib NE$322,785 Executive Director $59,443 $58,632 2024
Carrollton Public Library MO$269,204 Library Dire $49,572 $48,150 2024
Girard Public Library KS$268,214 Library Dire $52,136 $51,653 2024
Riegelsville Public Library PA$268,133 Director $31,917 $29,189 2024
Bentonville Library Foundation AR$329,496 Executive Director $95,000 $97,928 2024
Bedford County Library Inc PA$329,883 Director $48,292 $44,165 2024
Clyde Savannah Public Library NY$330,980 Director $51,500 $42,677 2024
Preston Public Library CT$261,956 Director $73,677 $61,718 2025
Austin Free-net TX$344,688 Executive Director $87,102 $79,903 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 2023 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)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Lisa Richard) 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 70 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $23,315 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.