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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Southwest Iowa Nature Trails

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 421325845
IA · NTEE C30Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rebecca Castle Laughlin, Executive Director / CEO ($18,920) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 146 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 8th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

146 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 146 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,493 total compensation of comparable organizations → $211,392 $18,920
$21,50310th
$43,20825th
$58,916Median
$75,33375th
$85,51590th
$18,920This org · 8th
p10$21,503
p25$43,208
p50$58,916
p75$75,333
p90$85,515
$18,920

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 IA 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
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $9,244 2024
Friends Of Arches&canyonlands Parks UT$346,985 Executive Di $69,823 $65,266 2024
Species Survival Network MD$346,428 Executive Director $65,232 $55,698 2024
Grow Native Massachusetts Inc MA$359,550 Executive Di $111,000 $91,098 2024
E Inc MA$359,622 Executive Di $58,556 $46,819 2025
Vibe Tribe Adventures CO$360,098 Ceo $57,791 $52,105 2023
The Crest OR$360,557 Executive Director $66,333 $56,260 2024
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $67,034 2024
Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Land & Wate FL$361,353 Executive Director $91,491 $78,497 2024
Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Cent MI$343,199 Co-director $75,005 $70,705 2024
Living Observatory Inc MA$364,058 Director $42,388 $34,788 2024
Friends Of The Delaware Canal Inc PA$364,269 Executive Di $81,900 $74,592 2024
Billings Trailnet MT$364,583 Executive Director $75,323 $76,344 2023
Alliance For The Wild Rockies Inc MT$364,633 Executive Director/treasur $105,808 $104,166 2024
Rivanna Conservation Alliance VA$364,992 Executive Director $32,296 $29,321 2023
Calhoun County Resource Watch TX$336,943 President $8,700 $7,948 2024
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $63,595 2023
Mahwah Environmental Volunteers NJ$335,230 Executive Dir. $61,660 $50,279 2024
Coalition For Susitna Dam Alternatives AK$334,038 Executive Director 1/1/24-7/31/24 $96,688 $84,424 2024
Rendezvous Lands Conservancy WY$334,011 Coo/cfo $20,104 $19,155 2025
Edenacres Environmental Education OR$333,368 Executive Director $52,768 $44,755 2024
Collective Oyster Recycling & CT$332,167 Director $35,962 $30,795 2024
Alaska Whale Foundation AK$331,469 Executive Director $92,083 $80,403 2024
Wildlife Ecology Institute MT$327,259 Executive Dir. $100,039 $98,486 2024
For A Better Bayou LA$377,663 Executive Director $84,000 $84,476 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 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 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.

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 default8th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)7th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted12th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted8th

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 (Rebecca Castle Laughlin) 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 146 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $18,920 is reasonable (approximately the 8th 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.