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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Open Communities

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 362934709
IL · NTEE L22Z
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cheryl Lawrence, Executive Director / CEO ($129,999) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 195 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 95th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Cheryl Lawrence — reported title “CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

195 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 195 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,293 total compensation of comparable organizations → $487,240 $129,999
$11,79810th
$24,60225th
$46,387Median
$70,35675th
$92,81290th
$129,999This org · 95th
p10$11,798
p25$24,602
p50$46,387
p75$70,356
p90$92,812
$129,999

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 IL 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
National Church Residences Of Ceredo OH$1,112,816 President $46,401 $49,990 2024
Delray Beach Community Land Trust FL$1,113,105 Chief Exe Of $158,558 $151,511 2024
Hale Area Assisted Living Corp MI$1,109,917 President & Ceo $30,635 $33,114 2023
Sheldon Christian Retirement Home IA$1,116,740 Treasurer $5,640 $6,281 2024
Oakland Planning And Development PA$1,106,944 Executive Director $80,221 $81,373 2024
🔒 190 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL 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 IL 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 default95th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)95th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted98th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted25th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 195-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 13, 2026.