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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 363913497
IL · NTEE C340
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steve Barg, Executive Director / CEO ($109,805) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 88 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 41st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

88 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 88 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$49,835 total compensation of comparable organizations → $560,857 $109,805
$71,11410th
$96,14825th
$115,765Median
$158,00675th
$185,17690th
$109,805This org · 41st
p10$71,114
p25$96,148
p50$115,765
p75$158,006
p90$185,176
$109,805

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
Loon Echo Land Trust Inc ME$2,912,812 Exceutive Director $88,570 $90,212 2024
International Union Of Forest Research Organizations $2,939,549 Iufro Executive Director $158,686 $163,373 2023
Gasparilla Isl Conser & Improve Assn FL$2,956,730 Executive Director $174,107 $166,369 2024
North Olympic Land Trust WA$2,884,024 Executive Director $82,303 $74,952 2024
Re-use Hawaii HI$2,873,487 Director $64,514 $58,752 2024
🔒 83 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 default41st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)38th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted41st

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 88-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 9, 2026.