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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Project Real

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 432074467
NV · NTEE V26
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Thomas Kovach 71 - 71523, Executive Director / CEO ($47,775) 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 29th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Thomas Kovach 71 - 71523 — 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

$2,451 total compensation of comparable organizations → $470,067 $47,775
$27,00110th
$44,55725th
$86,222Median
$129,66075th
$161,99390th
$47,775This org · 29th
p10$27,001
p25$44,557
p50$86,222
p75$129,660
p90$161,993
$47,775

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 NV 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
Living City Project Inc NY$372,760 President $94,072 $84,805 2024
Tuscarawas County Economic Development OH$385,045 Acting Secretary / Execdir $143,794 $156,427 2023
Delaware Council On Economic Education DE$368,572 President And Secretary $32,500 $30,929 2025
Maya Exploration Center TX$367,484 Chairman $45,000 $44,907 2024
Leverage Research Inc FL$392,590 Ceo & Chair & Treasurer $21,533 $20,181 2024
Nebraska Council On Economic Education NE$394,922 President, Ncee $55,499 $58,015 2025
Project Invest VA$360,770 Executive Director $145,973 $140,610 2024
Institute For Economics And Peace NY$395,562 Executive Director $179,179 $161,528 2024
New Netherland Institute NY$399,797 Director $65,000 $58,597 2024
Democratic Socialists Of America Fund NY$399,886 Director $57,048 $51,428 2024
Crosswinds Foundation For AL$403,964 President $48,000 $51,733 2024
American Center For Mongolian Studies PA$349,252 Executive Director (Former) $41,670 $41,456 2024
Economic Club Of Minnesota MN$345,658 Executive Director $150,512 $148,371 2024
California Women Lead CA$421,172 Executive Director $62,792 $54,093 2024
American Governance Foundation Inc CA$334,255 Secretary $31,500 $27,136 2024
The Cloud Institute For Sustainability Education NY$331,130 President $176,969 $159,535 2024
Institute For Political Economyinc FL$330,573 Chairman $207,600 $194,562 2024
Un Mundo Sin Mordaza DC$427,380 President $48,000 $43,263 2023
The Institute For New Economic Thinking NY$429,626 President $521,435 $470,067 2024
Institute For Holotropics Inc CA$430,350 President $100,894 $86,916 2024
The Rhine Research Center Inc NC$322,718 Executive Director $73,129 $77,609 2023
Louisiana Family Forum Inc LA$433,568 President $117,494 $132,882 2023
Eastern Sociological Society NJ$312,665 Exec. Officer $69,259 $61,691 2024
Methods Innovation Inc WY$445,252 President $86,988 $92,928 2024
Telosa Community Foundation CA$308,210 Ceo, Secretary, Treasurer $200,000 $172,291 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NV 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 NV 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 default29th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)24th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted31st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted25th

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 (Thomas Kovach 71 - 71523) 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 major group (V), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $47,775 is reasonable (approximately the 29th 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.