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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Chicago Engineers' Foundation Of The Union League Club

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 366109433
IL · NTEE T23
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Debbie Birrell, Executive Director / CEO ($39,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 651 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 47th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

651 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 651 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$100 total compensation of comparable organizations → $761,678 $39,000
$7,66110th
$22,62125th
$41,577Median
$65,60675th
$96,66290th
$39,000This org · 47th
p10$7,661
p25$22,621
p50$41,577
p75$65,606
p90$96,662
$39,000

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
Asi - Austin Texas Inc MN$215,876 President/tr $65,715 $68,000 2023
Miller Safety Center Inc CO$215,919 Executive Director $72,641 $70,850 2024
The Ku Endowment Charitable Gift Fund KS$216,011 President (Ending Aug 2022) $673,249 $761,678 2023
Women's Fund Of Greater Chattanooga TN$216,100 Executive Director $87,604 $93,665 2024
Warrensburg R-vi School District MO$215,428 Executive Di $49,448 $53,272 2024
Pgei Of America Charitable NJ$215,223 Administrator $14,525 $13,581 2023
White Swan Foundation Inc VT$216,456 Executive Director $47,375 $48,503 2024
Brookings Foundation SD$215,053 Director, Treasurer $6,600 $7,218 2025
Opportunity Living Foundation IA$216,595 Chief Executive Officer $10,609 $11,816 2024
Hands On Thomas County Inc GA$216,757 Executive Di $65,532 $65,295 2025
Liberty County Manna House GA$216,787 Director $43,000 $45,277 2023
Love It Once More Inc IL$216,821 President $34,917 $35,948 2023
Pv Schools Education Foundation AZ$216,826 Executive Director $55,000 $53,803 2024
216 Somerset Company PA$216,909 Member (Thru 3/11/23) $32,967 $34,428 2023
Hamlin Jaeger And Massina Charitable WV$216,933 Trustee $12,065 $13,680 2023
Mission Indy Inc IN$214,556 President And Executive Director $43,872 $47,060 2024
Gospel Mission Aviation Inc TN$214,357 President, Board Member And Program Manager $20,600 $22,025 2024
Batavia United Way IL$217,332 Executive Dir $32,500 $32,500 2024
Inside Out Club IL$214,308 Executive Director $69,583 $67,789 2025
Wounded Heroes Of America CA$214,144 President & Ceo $75,000 $65,875 2024
Volunteer Center Of Kern County Inc CA$217,744 Executive Dir. $47,336 $41,577 2024
Giving Square MD$217,790 Executive Director $74,280 $72,724 2023
How Charities PA$213,624 Vice President $36,450 $36,973 2024
Simi Valley Hospital Foundation CA$218,133 Executive Dir. $57,720 $52,195 2023
Ozarks Charitable Real Estate Foundation MO$218,166 Director/president & Ceo End 02/24 $37,216 $40,094 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 default47th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)48th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted58th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted30th

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 (Debbie Birrell) 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 651 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (T), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $39,000 is reasonable (approximately the 47th 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.