Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Courtney Dufford, Executive Director / CEO ($111,772) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 603 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 95th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended
Benchmarked executive: Courtney Dufford — reported title “Lead Organizer”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 IA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanu Hawaii | HI | $257,751 | Executive Director | $64,996 | $54,552 | 2024 |
| Community Climate Solutions | CA | $257,065 | President And Program Manager | $89,625 | $70,681 | 2025 |
| Carrolls Water Association | WA | $256,946 | Treasurer | $8,269 | $6,940 | 2024 |
| Resource Protection Group Inc | VA | $258,063 | Secretary/tr | $7,500 | $6,788 | 2024 |
| Urban Seeds Inc | IN | $256,671 | Director | $60,781 | $60,088 | 2024 |
| San Bruno Mountain Watch | CA | $256,427 | Executive Dir. | $85,293 | $69,045 | 2024 |
| Water Climate Trust | CA | $256,351 | Executive Director | $81,000 | $67,506 | 2023 |
| Sustainable Contra Costa | CA | $258,679 | Ceo | $34,425 | $28,690 | 2023 |
| Keep Alabama Beautiful | AL | $256,170 | Executive Director | $41,000 | $41,524 | 2024 |
| Coast Ridge Community Forest | CA | $258,775 | Executive Dir. | $16,465 | $13,722 | 2023 |
| Harris Ranch Wildlife Mitigation Association Inc | ID | $256,059 | Conservation Director | $53,856 | $53,708 | 2024 |
| Arctictoday | AK | $256,031 | Editor In Chief, Resigned Feb 2023 | $28,846 | $26,617 | 2023 |
| Cwmu Association | UT | $259,051 | Secretary | $5,000 | $4,939 | 2023 |
| Virginias United Land Trusts | VA | $259,231 | Executive Dir. | $98,537 | $86,893 | 2025 |
| Bear Lake Watch | UT | $259,252 | Past Exec. Dir. | $37,912 | $37,450 | 2023 |
| Lake Erie Islands Conservancy | OH | $255,106 | Chair | $16,000 | $15,886 | 2024 |
| Pivot Clean Energy Co | CO | $254,866 | President | $14,400 | $13,327 | 2023 |
| Friends Of Huddart & Wunderlich Parks | CA | $260,144 | Program Director | $75,000 | $59,147 | 2025 |
| Forest And Woodland Association Of Missouri | MO | $260,581 | Executive Director | $48,505 | $46,920 | 2025 |
| Live Green Connecticut Inc | CT | $260,833 | President | $137,500 | $124,429 | 2023 |
| The Green Urban Lunch Box | UT | $260,884 | Executive Director March 2023 - December 2023 | $46,875 | $46,303 | 2023 |
| The Nature Of Wildworks | CA | $260,945 | Executive Di | $66,092 | $53,502 | 2024 |
| Growing Communities Inc | CA | $253,966 | President | $147,531 | $122,953 | 2023 |
| People & Plants International Inc | VT | $261,027 | Co-director | $93,000 | $87,753 | 2024 |
| People And Pollinators Action | CO | $253,840 | Executive Di | $63,585 | $57,157 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IA cost of living and 2025 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 IA 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 95th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 92nd |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 90th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 92nd |
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.
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
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.