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

The Shelter Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 352603340
IN · NTEE L41
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dusty Stephens, Executive Director / CEO ($1,810) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 59 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 0th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

59 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 59 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,255 total compensation of comparable organizations → $133,472 $1,810
$16,54310th
$33,18625th
$50,597Median
$58,92075th
$68,45490th
$1,810This org · 0th
p10$16,543
p25$33,186
p50$50,597
p75$58,920
p90$68,454
$1,810

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
E S T H E R Homes Inc MN$202,775 Executive Director $84,480 $76,886 2024
Emergency Housing And Advocacy NJ$201,876 Executive Di $68,000 $55,920 2024
Free From Hardship La Inc CA$201,115 Executive Director $5,197 $4,255 2023
Family Promise Of Lewis Clark Valley Inc ID$206,175 Executive Dir. $58,000 $56,829 2024
Steadfast Standing Firm Against MD$206,889 Executive Di $56,035 $48,252 2024
House Of Mercy Enterprises Llc TX$206,910 Director $18,000 $16,585 2024
Warriors Once Again SC$194,138 Executive Di $17,040 $16,373 2024
Northwoods Homeless Shelters Inc WI$190,778 Executive Di $50,444 $48,523 2024
Welcome House Inc ND$187,335 Executive Dir. $50,846 $51,394 2024
My Sisters Keeper Incorporated KY$224,456 Exectuive Director Non Voting $50,000 $49,478 2024
My Sisters House Ministries Inc KS$180,242 President $134,135 $133,472 2024
Family Promise Of Butler County Inc OH$225,193 Interim Executive Director $28,846 $28,140 2024
Dignity First ME$179,716 Executive Director $27,342 $25,218 2024
Mason County Housing Options For Students In Transition WA$178,912 Executive Director $81,667 $69,334 2023
Duluth Harbor Rescue Mission Inc MN$229,672 Director $48,441 $44,086 2024
Number One Single Room Occupancy Hdfc NY$174,179 Interim Ceo To 4/3/23 & Bd Director $36,280 $31,088 2023
Marie Adelaide Center Inc NJ$171,372 Vice Pres/di $66,000 $54,275 2024
Pals N Pets Inc CA$170,910 Executive Dir. $76,085 $62,301 2023
Ashland Church Community Emergency OH$237,807 Executive Di $49,920 $50,138 2023
Sitka Homeless Coalition AK$239,078 Executive Di $66,561 $58,612 2024
New Beginnings For Families Inc MA$164,666 President, Ceo $40,437 $32,606 2025
Gospel Homes For Women CO$241,398 Treasurer $25,000 $22,080 2024
Mattoon Area Pads Community IL$241,802 Exec Dir $74,287 $67,268 2024
Family Promise Of Burlington County NJ$160,669 Exec. Director $51,302 $43,435 2023
Bethel House Of Whitewater Inc WI$245,566 Director Of Case Management $48,750 $46,893 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 default0th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)0th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted7th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted0th

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 (Dusty Stephens) 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 59 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (L41), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $1,810 is reasonable (approximately the 0th 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.