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

Thousand Waves Foundation Nfp

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 364471839
IL · NTEE B99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ryan Libel, Executive Director / CEO ($76,573) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 17 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 59th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Ryan Libel — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

17 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 17 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$11,992 total compensation of comparable organizations → $135,476 $76,573
$35,70410th
$62,50025th
$70,000Median
$107,16575th
$128,21390th
$76,573This org · 59th
p10$35,704
p25$62,500
p50$70,000
p75$107,165
p90$128,213
$76,573

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
The Blessed Child IL$494,874 President $11,992 $11,992 2024
Ace Mentor Program Of Illinois Inc IL$498,311 Executive Director $66,425 $68,387 2023
Heritage Museum Of Asian Art IL$459,798 Treasurer $62,500 $62,500 2024
Science And Entrepreneurship Exchange IL$458,706 Secretary $73,655 $75,831 2023
Urbana Theological Seminary IL$524,250 Board Member $80,760 $80,760 2024
Public Narrative IL$543,060 President $124,800 $128,486 2023
Lead Education Group Inc IL$547,382 President $98,097 $98,097 2024
One Solution Foundation Inc IL$400,202 Executive Director $61,004 $62,806 2023
Parenteach Institute IL$587,844 Executive Director $110,000 $107,165 2025
Ebenezeer Community Outreach IL$345,180 President $131,418 $128,031 2025
Asianetwork Inc IL$341,405 Executive Director $23,500 $23,500 2024
Cornerstone Academy IL$339,889 Principal $70,000 $70,000 2024
Sisters Working It Out IL$325,802 President $65,000 $65,000 2024
Chicago Free School IL$647,499 President (Beg 6/30/24) $59,433 $59,433 2024
Central States Numismatic Society IL$674,555 President $45,000 $43,840 2025
True Believers Community Connections IL$709,071 Executive Director And Board Memb $135,476 $135,476 2024
Institute For Advancing Computing Education IL$725,225 President $110,085 $110,085 2024

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 default59th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)59th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted71st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted53rd

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 (Ryan Libel) 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 17 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B99) + IL + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $76,573 is reasonable (approximately the 59th 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.