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

Realtors Association Of Northwestern

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 391216859
WI · NTEE S41
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brenda Barnhardt, Executive Director / CEO ($125,860) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 16 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 88th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Brenda Barnhardt — reported title “EXEC VP - NON-VOTING”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

16 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 16 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,500 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,361 $125,860
$48,02510th
$55,64925th
$65,775Median
$96,68775th
$121,77690th
$125,860This org · 88th
p10$48,025
p25$55,649
p50$65,775
p75$96,687
p90$121,776
$125,860

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 WI 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
Port Main Street Inc WI$308,828 Executive Director $54,769 $56,387 2023
Central Wisconsin Board Of Realtors Inc WI$285,838 Ceo $116,912 $116,912 2024
International Milk Haulers Assn WI$279,994 Executive Director $65,000 $66,920 2023
International Credit Union Regulators Network Inc WI$274,351 Executive Director $123,006 $126,639 2023
Cottage Grove Chamber Of Commerce WI$263,478 Executive Director $62,776 $64,630 2023
International Society Of Ocular Oncology WI$347,733 Director $3,500 $3,500 2024
Ephraim Business Council Ltd WI$234,281 Administrato $56,000 $56,000 2024
Airport Gateway Business Association WI$228,260 Executive Dir. $105,325 $105,325 2024
Adams County Chamber Of Commerce Inc WI$220,256 Executive Director $50,000 $50,000 2024
Germantown Area Chamber Of Commerce WI$217,363 Executive Direc $46,050 $46,050 2024
West Bend Area Chamber Of Commerce WI$384,995 President & $84,460 $86,955 2023
Wisconsin Newspaper Association Inc WI$386,248 Executive Director $151,875 $156,361 2023
Elkhart Lake Chamber Of Commerce WI$212,172 Exec Direct $54,594 $54,594 2024
Wisconsin Badger Chapter Club Management WI$201,353 Managing Director $58,940 $58,940 2024
Heart Of The Valley Chamber Of Commerce WI$408,215 Executive Dir. $96,290 $93,808 2025
National Association Of Travel WI$411,841 Executive Director Thru June $70,562 $70,562 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WI 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 WI 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 default88th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)94th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted88th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Brenda Barnhardt) 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 16 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (S41) + WI + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $125,860 is reasonable (approximately the 88th 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.