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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Lutheran Cemetery Association

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 396055647
WI · NTEE Y52Z
FY ending 2025-02-28
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mary Sime, Executive Director / CEO ($9,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 65 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 58th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Mary Sime — reported title “SECTREAS”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

65 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 65 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$97 total compensation of comparable organizations → $306,468 $9,000
$75310th
$1,82325th
$4,744Median
$15,49375th
$53,41190th
$9,000This org · 58th
p10$753
p25$1,823
p50$4,744
p75$15,493
p90$53,411
$9,000

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 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
Fraternal Order Of Eagles 3730 Auxiliary MO$52,914 Secretary $1,319 $1,338 2025
New Oxford Cemetery Association PA$53,324 Treasurer/se $3,500 $3,431 2024
Euclid Health Trust OH$52,173 Trustee $16,050 $16,708 2024
Maxus Retirees Modified Medical Benefits TX$50,882 Committee Member $4,000 $3,933 2024
Independent Benevolent Societ Of Albany NY$55,542 Treasurer $2,000 $1,829 2023
Highland Memorial Cemetary ME$55,581 Superintende $19,600 $19,290 2024
Boonville Cemetery Association Inc NY$55,777 President $1,517 $1,347 2024
Free And Accepted Masons Hesperian Lodge 262 CA$55,813 Secretary $3,000 $2,621 2023
Black Point Cemetery Corporation ME$55,840 Treasurer $4,606 $4,533 2024
Retiree Benefits Trust TX$56,085 Secretary/compliance Offic $21,500 $21,138 2024
Spring Valley Fire Relief MN$56,474 President $250 $250 2023
Claggett Cemetery Corporation OR$49,474 Vice President $12,000 $10,953 2024
Knights Templar Of The WI$56,745 Grand Treasu $1,200 $1,200 2025
New Woodstock Cemetery Association NY$57,949 Trustee, Sexton $2,000 $1,776 2024
Kn Consultants Ltd NY$46,804 Executive Director $12,000 $10,658 2024
Buffalo Lake Fire Relief MN$59,663 President $600 $583 2024
Pocono Health System Medical PA$46,304 President $16,860 $16,525 2024
West Porterville Irrigation Company UT$60,030 Secretary $3,200 $3,219 2024
Norway Pine Grove Cemetery Corp ME$45,624 President $1,000 $984 2024
Nebraska Methodist Health System NE$45,480 Pres & Ceo Nebr Methodist $281,592 $306,468 2023
Lehigh Zion Cemetery Association PA$45,079 President $1,494 $1,465 2024
Ams Title Company ME$61,200 President $90,937 $89,498 2024
Employee Contribution Veba Trust CA$44,869 Cfo, Pepperdine University $36,961 $31,369 2024
Valle Verde Del Norte Water Coop AZ$61,401 Treasurer $1,800 $1,823 2022
Miami Domestic Water Users Association NM$61,437 Board President $9,793 $10,658 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WI cost of living and 2025 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 default58th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)58th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted71st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted57th

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 (Mary Sime) 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 65 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (Y), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $9,000 is reasonable (approximately the 58th 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.