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

Friends Of The White River Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 351658122
IN · NTEE C320
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Scott Salmon, Executive Director / CEO ($75,522) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 71 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Scott Salmon — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

71 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 71 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,886 total compensation of comparable organizations → $140,783 $75,522
$9,99610th
$40,44825th
$61,728Median
$75,14075th
$103,33290th
$75,522This org · 75th
p10$9,996
p25$40,448
p50$61,728
p75$75,140
p90$103,332
$75,522

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
Professional Training Association WA$302,967 Executive Director $111,400 $91,864 2024
White River Partnership Inc VT$299,632 Executive Director $65,126 $62,160 2023
Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition Inc IA$299,322 Executive Director $118,551 $119,559 2024
Heart Of The Lakes Ctr For Land Cons MI$305,789 Executive Dir. $102,862 $97,790 2024
Friends Of Sausal Creek CA$306,596 Exec Directo $65,000 $53,224 2023
Lake Merritt Institute CA$308,288 Executive Director $81,872 $63,437 2025
Rozalia Project VT$294,533 Executive Di $75,728 $70,205 2024
Freshwaters Illustrated Inc OR$310,842 Staff Director $73,357 $62,745 2024
Lake Of The Ozarks Watershed Allian MO$290,092 Executive Di $92,973 $90,699 2024
Alpine Watershed Group CA$316,148 Executive Dir. $56,927 $45,276 2024
Michigan Municipal Wetland Alliance Inc MI$324,309 Executive Director $52,008 $49,443 2024
Peconic Baykeeper Inc NY$327,883 Executive Di $123,903 $103,123 2024
Northwoods Wildlife Center WI$328,808 Vice Preside $5,000 $5,568 2021
Project41 CA$273,056 Ceo $101,400 $80,647 2024
Friends Of The Eel River CA$331,549 Secretary (Non Voting) $78,203 $64,035 2023
Western Water Conservation CA$332,382 Director $8,925 $7,308 2023
Upper Delaware Council Inc NY$332,834 Executive Director $65,457 $54,479 2024
Bitterroot Water Partnership MT$332,971 Executive Director $81,500 $83,307 2023
South Santiam Watershed Council OR$332,988 Executive Director $81,250 $69,497 2024
Harney County Watershed Council Inc OR$270,607 Coordinator $52,250 $46,012 2023
North Santiam Watershed Council OR$334,896 Executive Director $79,049 $65,871 2025
San Marcos River Foundation TX$334,909 Executive Director $52,830 $48,674 2024
Maine Lakes Society ME$336,391 Executive Di $76,106 $70,193 2024
Malama Na Apapa HI$265,256 Director $10,000 $9,996 2020
Wyoming Wetland Society WY$338,401 Program Director $50,071 $50,843 2023

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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)62nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted76th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Scott Salmon) 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 71 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C32), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $75,522 is reasonable (approximately the 75th 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.