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

Leila Arboretum Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 382528975
MI · NTEE C410
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brett Myers, Executive Director / CEO ($67,246) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 767 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 49th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

767 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 767 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$295 total compensation of comparable organizations → $839,620 $67,246
$21,81210th
$45,12925th
$68,717Median
$89,50575th
$110,35990th
$67,246This org · 49th
p10$21,812
p25$45,129
p50$68,717
p75$89,505
p90$110,359
$67,246

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 MI 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
Natural Restorations AZ$400,227 Executive Director $98,807 $92,063 2024
Smart Buildings Center Education Program WA$400,015 Executive Director $26,536 $23,017 2024
Change Is Simple Inc MA$399,789 Executive Director $75,368 $67,554 2023
Hudsonia Limited NY$402,308 Executive Di $43,000 $37,645 2024
Clean Fairfax Council VA$399,566 Executive Director $104,213 $94,974 2025
Alliance For Pulp And Paper Technology DC$399,350 Executive Director $194,878 $165,681 2024
Arkansas Environmental Federation Inc AR$402,813 Executive Director $97,554 $109,375 2023
The Outdoor Circle HI$402,928 Executive Director $122,049 $105,866 2024
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive MI$403,111 Executive Di $85,000 $85,000 2024
Three Rivers Solid Waste Technology SC$398,817 Chair $300 $295 2025
Get Inspired CA$403,267 President $110,000 $92,025 2024
Michigan Turfgrass Foundation MI$403,612 Executive Director $45,000 $45,000 2024
Climate Access Fund Corporation MD$404,259 Ceo $156,583 $141,828 2024
Haw River Assembly Inc NC$397,564 Executive Di $71,611 $71,687 2024
Sustainable Learning Inc NY$404,621 Executive Director $44,100 $38,608 2024
Wesselman Nature Society Inc IN$396,745 Executive Director $63,785 $65,169 2024
Ohio Land Bank Association OH$396,642 Executive Di $86,884 $91,789 2023
Southern Star Medical Research Institute TX$396,384 Trustee/chairman & Pres $190,400 $184,523 2024
Friends Of Baxter State Park ME$396,313 Executive Director $92,805 $90,033 2024
Friends Of Illinois Nature Preserves IL$405,851 Executive Director $70,000 $66,673 2024
Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action CA$396,132 Interim Ed $76,000 $63,581 2024
Torrey House Press UT$405,952 Executive Director $69,650 $71,103 2023
North American Process Technology TX$395,970 President $93,304 $93,095 2023
Friends Of The Mad River VT$406,162 Executive Director $68,571 $66,867 2024
Mills River Partnership Inc NC$406,242 Executive Di $84,253 $82,168 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI 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 MI 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 default49th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)44th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted52nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted45th

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 (Brett Myers) 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 767 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (C), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $67,246 is reasonable (approximately the 49th 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.