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

Minnesota Humane Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 410956478
MN · NTEE D200
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Linda Challeen, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 424 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 78th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

424 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 424 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,367 total compensation of comparable organizations → $154,716 $60,000
$9,70810th
$20,95825th
$39,325Median
$57,84075th
$75,81390th
$60,000This org · 78th
p10$9,708
p25$20,958
p50$39,325
p75$57,840
p90$75,813
$60,000

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 MN 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
Wags & Whiskers Pet Rescue Inc FL$333,600 President $28,400 $26,226 2024
Help The Animals Inc IN$333,988 Director Ex $34,100 $35,349 2024
Priest River Animal Rescue Inc ID$333,016 President $16,103 $16,839 2024
Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends Inc GA$332,991 Executive Director / Ceo $58,900 $59,935 2023
New England Old English Sheepdog Rescue MA$331,686 Treasurer $3,062 $2,705 2024
Hooved Animal Rescue & Protection Society IL$331,630 President $63,635 $63,313 2023
People For Pets IA$331,196 Executive Dir. $43,741 $47,079 2024
Dog Orphans Inc MA$336,929 Manager $66,662 $58,884 2024
Ruff House Rescue Inc NY$337,422 President $117,300 $104,193 2024
Humane Society Serving Crawford OH$337,579 Shelter Dire $52,888 $56,690 2023
Ayres Memorial Animal Shelter Inc NY$337,638 Treasurer $2,400 $2,195 2023
Prattvilleautauga Humane Shelter AL$337,825 Executive Director $27,663 $29,377 2024
Free Flight CA$337,862 Executive Dir. $25,184 $21,376 2024
Second Chance Farm TX$338,118 President $36,000 $35,399 2024
Down The Stretch Ranch WA$338,727 Executive Director $72,573 $65,757 2023
Committed Alliance To Strays Inc OR$338,821 Executive Director $39,520 $37,142 2023
Pawsitive Restoration Animal Rescue CO$328,680 Executive Director $97,200 $91,618 2024
Humane Society Of Whitley County I IN$328,503 Director $45,935 $49,024 2023
No Time To Spare Animal Rescue & MO$328,202 President $34,397 $36,870 2023
Orcas Animal Protection Society WA$327,485 Executive Director $72,335 $63,661 2024
The Mosby Foundation VA$325,983 Executive Di $42,000 $39,863 2024
Guayabo Animal Rescue Fdn Inc FL$325,962 Executive Di $48,000 $44,326 2024
Crooked Tail Cat Rescue NC$342,013 President $47,966 $48,719 2024
Jay County Humane Society Inc IN$325,350 Consultant/director $33,846 $35,086 2024
Oswego County Humane Society Inc NY$342,786 Executive Di $50,865 $45,182 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN cost of living and 2023 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 MN 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 default78th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)76th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted79th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted77th

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 (Linda Challeen) 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 424 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (D20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,000 is reasonable (approximately the 78th 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.