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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Minnesota Environmental Partnership

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 411986433
MN · NTEE C010
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steven Morse, Executive Director / CEO ($154,029) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 59 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 93rd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Steven Morse — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

59 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 59 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$790 total compensation of comparable organizations → $446,065 $154,029
$27,80710th
$55,94525th
$85,154Median
$104,93975th
$138,21290th
$154,029This org · 93rd
p10$27,807
p25$55,945
p50$85,154
p75$104,939
p90$138,212
$154,029

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
Brighter Green Inc NY$463,273 Executive Di $35,000 $32,953 2023
Powder River Basin Resource Council WY$463,151 Executive Di $41,543 $45,020 2024
California Urban Forests Council CA$470,825 Exec Director $118,833 $103,847 2024
Cape Fear River Watch NC$471,332 Executive Director $68,855 $72,001 2024
Environmental Justice Community Action Network NC$475,260 Executive Director $95,000 $99,341 2024
Recycling Association Of Minnesota MN$477,798 Executive Director $50,724 $50,724 2024
Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative CO$448,807 Executive Director $90,000 $87,337 2024
Bluedot Institute Inc CA$445,571 Executive Director $74,712 $65,290 2024
Snake River Waterkeeper Inc ID$444,677 Executive Dir. $402,446 $446,065 2023
Everglades Law Center Inc FL$483,835 Executive Director $91,258 $86,761 2024
Rochester Ecology Partners Inc NY$444,273 Executive Director $59,112 $54,058 2024
North Carolina Climate Justice NC$485,773 Co-executive Director $49,586 $51,852 2024
Maine Climate Action Now ME$485,922 Executive Director (Mcan) $63,818 $64,672 2024
Energy Policy Network TX$490,332 Executive Dir. $20,125 $20,975 2023
Western Leaders Network CO$432,415 Executive Dir. $110,053 $106,797 2024
East Michigan Environmental Action MI$499,608 Director $51,653 $55,550 2023
Intersectional Environmentalist CA$508,909 Secretary $17,955 $15,691 2024
Urban Water Institute Inc CA$418,696 Executive Dir. $48,430 $42,322 2024
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance MO$415,631 Executive Di $151,408 $167,087 2023
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition CA$413,193 Executive Dir. $163,249 $142,662 2024
Yaak Valley Forest Council MT$410,680 Executive Di $16,828 $18,358 2024
Alabama Rivers Alliance Inc AL$521,285 Executive Director $68,000 $76,543 2023
Grace Hudowalski Charitable Trust ME$407,041 Trustee $54,000 $56,339 2023
Michigan Recycling Coalition MI$525,387 Executive Director $99,932 $104,388 2024
Arkansas Environmental Federation Inc AR$402,813 Executive Director $97,554 $114,252 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN 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 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 default93rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted88th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted92nd

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 (Steven Morse) 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 59 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C01), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $154,029 is reasonable (approximately the 93rd 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.