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

Alliance For Pulp And Paper Technology

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 451610758
DC · NTEE C033
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christopher Luettgen, Executive Director / CEO ($194,878) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 763 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

763 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 763 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$347 total compensation of comparable organizations → $987,578 $194,878
$25,64310th
$53,08125th
$80,819Median
$104,86575th
$129,60090th
$194,878This org · 98th
p10$25,643
p25$53,081
p50$80,819
p75$104,865
p90$129,600
$194,878

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 DC 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
Clean Fairfax Council VA$399,566 Executive Director $104,213 $111,710 2025
Change Is Simple Inc MA$399,789 Executive Director $75,368 $79,459 2023
Three Rivers Solid Waste Technology SC$398,817 Chair $300 $347 2025
Smart Buildings Center Education Program WA$400,015 Executive Director $26,536 $27,074 2024
Natural Restorations AZ$400,227 Executive Director $98,807 $108,287 2024
Leila Arboretum Society MI$401,038 Executive Di $67,246 $79,096 2024
Haw River Assembly Inc NC$397,564 Executive Di $71,611 $84,320 2024
Wesselman Nature Society Inc IN$396,745 Executive Director $63,785 $76,653 2024
Ohio Land Bank Association OH$396,642 Executive Di $86,884 $107,964 2023
Hudsonia Limited NY$402,308 Executive Di $43,000 $44,279 2024
Southern Star Medical Research Institute TX$396,384 Trustee/chairman & Pres $190,400 $217,040 2024
Friends Of Baxter State Park ME$396,313 Executive Director $92,805 $105,899 2024
Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action CA$396,132 Interim Ed $76,000 $74,785 2024
North American Process Technology TX$395,970 President $93,304 $109,500 2023
Arkansas Environmental Federation Inc AR$402,813 Executive Director $97,554 $128,650 2023
The Outdoor Circle HI$402,928 Executive Director $122,049 $124,521 2024
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive MI$403,111 Executive Di $85,000 $99,979 2024
Get Inspired CA$403,267 President $110,000 $108,242 2024
Michigan Turfgrass Foundation MI$403,612 Executive Director $45,000 $52,930 2024
Southern Maryland Rc&d Board Inc MD$395,050 Executive Di $44,034 $48,299 2023
Heathcote Botanical Gardens Inc FL$394,957 Executive Di $63,750 $68,246 2024
Vinalhaven Land Trust Inc ME$394,562 Executive Di $77,874 $91,486 2023
Climate Access Fund Corporation MD$404,259 Ceo $156,583 $166,821 2024
Childhood Lead Action Project RI$394,175 Executive Director $69,270 $75,691 2024
Putnam Land Conservancy Inc FL$394,090 Ceo & Conservation Director $64,167 $68,693 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to DC 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 DC 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 default98th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)99th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted96th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted95th

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 (Christopher Luettgen) 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 763 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (C), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $194,878 is reasonable (approximately the 98th 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.