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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 383486616
MI · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Susan Pocklington, Executive Director / CEO ($32,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 103 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 26th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

103 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 103 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,584 total compensation of comparable organizations → $154,056 $32,000
$12,45110th
$28,92425th
$57,003Median
$74,01275th
$86,61890th
$32,000This org · 26th
p10$12,451
p25$28,924
p50$57,003
p75$74,012
p90$86,618
$32,000

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 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
Friends Of Lake Elmo's MN$217,060 Board Member $2,013 $1,927 2024
I-20 Wildlife Preserve & Jenna Welch TX$214,236 Executive Dir. $59,249 $59,116 2023
Indiana Land Protection Alliance IN$213,769 Executive Director $77,500 $81,520 2023
The River Project CA$220,622 President $6,384 $5,499 2023
Philadelphia Community Farm Inc WI$212,883 President $4,548 $4,602 2024
Lake Heritage Parks Foundation Inc IN$221,458 Executive Director $11,495 $11,744 2024
Valley In Motion PA$212,338 President $89,675 $86,640 2024
Riverwood Nature Center Inc WI$223,054 President $18,862 $19,085 2024
Ocean Agency RI$209,769 President & Ceo $105,173 $97,705 2024
Monterey Audubon Society CA$208,868 Executive Director $27,221 $22,186 2025
The New Nature Foundation PA$225,354 President $59,000 $57,003 2024
Energy & Conservation Law CO$225,726 Executive Dir. $132,385 $122,985 2024
Netcorps OR$207,493 Executive Di $67,458 $60,693 2024
Paddle Antrim MI$207,391 Executive Di $80,128 $80,128 2024
The North Skunk River Greenbelt Association IA$207,310 Treasurer Executive Director $16,273 $17,773 2023
Blue Mountains Forest Partners OR$206,916 Executive Dir. $77,700 $69,908 2024
Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association Inc WI$206,383 President $6,000 $6,071 2024
Coastal Shores Inc VA$205,828 President $42,769 $40,008 2024
Restoring The Lake Depths NV$205,234 Executive Dir. $69,856 $67,840 2024
Bull Run Mountains Conservancy Inc VA$228,778 Executive Director $127,013 $115,752 2025
Downwinders At Risk Education Fund TX$203,759 Executive Dir. $43,750 $42,400 2024
Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center I NY$231,005 President/founder $92,223 $86,531 2022
One Earth Conservation NY$202,605 Vice President & Secretary $22,982 $20,120 2024
Overland Expo Foundation Incorporated IN$202,559 Executive Director $32,000 $32,694 2024
Passivhausmaine ME$231,619 Executive Director $72,995 $72,907 2023

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 default26th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)25th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted27th
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:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Susan Pocklington) 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 103 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $32,000 is reasonable (approximately the 26th 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.