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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Observer

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 351414743
IN · NTEE A330
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Alysa Guffey, Executive Director / CEO ($5,396) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 47 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 4th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Alysa Guffey — reported title “Editor-in-Chief”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

47 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 47 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,396 total compensation of comparable organizations → $171,030 $5,396
$14,59510th
$27,16825th
$51,077Median
$74,79175th
$94,35190th
$5,396This org · 4th
p10$14,595
p25$27,168
p50$51,077
p75$74,791
p90$94,351
$5,396

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 IN 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
The Land Cle OH$234,577 Executive Director $79,000 $77,068 2024
Evangelical Press Association Inc AZ$235,359 Executive Director $83,936 $72,434 2025
Republic Of Letters WA$236,809 President, Publisher, Editor $67,750 $55,868 2024
Rain Taxi Inc MN$238,044 Executive Director $45,958 $43,062 2023
Dzanc Books Inc MI$217,668 Editor-in-chief $50,000 $48,938 2023
Anyone Corporation NY$239,192 Vp & Treasurer $30,000 $24,969 2024
Sustainability Institute Inc VT$216,115 Co-director $87,245 $83,271 2023
Inlandia Institute Inc CA$213,419 Executive Director $64,220 $51,077 2024
Superstars Writing CO$212,953 Member $24,570 $22,341 2023
Focus Press Inc TN$243,304 Employee $28,000 $27,909 2023
Targum Publishing Company NJ$209,199 Editor In Chief - Member $10,226 $8,410 2024
The Denver Homeless Voice CO$201,906 Executive Director $56,375 $51,260 2023
Bibliographical Society Of America NY$254,548 Executive Director $84,584 $70,398 2024
Fellowship For Intentional Community Inc MO$200,800 Manager $19,462 $18,986 2024
The Massachusetts Review Inc MA$262,636 Managing Editor $36,864 $31,413 2023
Reconciliation An Intl Network Of Churches And PA$262,893 President $12,500 $11,481 2024
Gospel Tract Society Inc MO$263,217 President $49,879 $50,096 2023
Latin American Perspectives Inc CA$190,599 Vice President $19,875 $15,807 2024
Western States Communication Association MT$187,356 Executive Director $12,500 $12,777 2023
Media Ecosystems Analysis MA$184,241 President & $126,160 $107,504 2023
India Childrens Press CA$183,719 Ceo $55,000 $45,036 2023
Oklahoma Media Center Inc OK$272,439 Executive Dir $94,344 $95,684 2024
Lantern Publishing & Media NY$181,699 President $50,000 $41,615 2024
The Codex Foundation CA$180,771 Executive Di $85,500 $68,001 2024
Catamaran Literary Reader CA$178,599 Executive Director $91,952 $73,133 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IN 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 IN 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 default4th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted4th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted4th

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 (Alysa Guffey) 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 47 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $5,396 is reasonable (approximately the 4th 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.