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

Paws For Life

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 455358361
UT · NTEE D20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kari Mcfee, Executive Director / CEO ($40,310) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 344 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 60th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

344 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 344 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,358 total compensation of comparable organizations → $171,953 $40,310
$8,65010th
$18,39425th
$33,427Median
$52,07475th
$68,81490th
$40,310This org · 60th
p10$8,650
p25$18,394
p50$33,427
p75$52,074
p90$68,814
$40,310

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 UT 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
Animal Wonders Inc MT$251,482 Executive Dir. $40,750 $42,919 2024
Cottontail Cottage Farm Sanctuary ME$251,017 President $8,850 $8,659 2024
Pet Association Of Estes Park Inc CO$250,952 Vice Pres/interim Pres $16,263 $15,686 2023
West Coast Cane Corso Rescue CA$251,584 Director $10,000 $8,437 2024
Fresno Bully Rescue Inc CA$250,829 Ed/president $34,520 $29,124 2024
Southwest Animal Rescue Fund Inc NM$251,818 Presidentexecutive Director $32,274 $33,916 2024
Simple Sparrow TX$252,007 Founder $18,000 $18,113 2023
Life Animal Rescue CA$252,180 President $18,200 $15,809 2023
Foster Tales CA$250,212 President And Director $76,219 $64,306 2024
New England Lab Rescue Inc ME$252,321 Executive Director $12,994 $12,713 2024
Animal Partisan Inc VA$250,151 President $36,720 $34,642 2024
Tecate Horse Rescue Inc CA$250,000 Employee $5,685 $4,796 2024
Bro And Tracy Animal Welfare Inc NM$252,612 Vice President $21,120 $22,195 2024
Second Leash On Life Inc GA$249,445 Director $16,250 $16,436 2023
The Animal Retreat Inc ID$253,716 Executive Dir. $41,592 $43,230 2024
Mutts & Meows Rescue TX$248,506 Director, President $65,003 $65,408 2023
Greyhounds In Motion Inc FL$247,902 Import Specialist $48,000 $44,058 2024
Sarama Animal Rescue Inc NJ$255,088 Board Member $13,000 $11,341 2024
Spay Asap Inc VT$246,452 President And Treasurer $130,897 $128,729 2024
Troopers Treasures TN$246,238 President $10,828 $11,121 2024
Animal Rescue Of Fresno CA$256,925 Member At Large $16,896 $14,255 2024
Have-a-heart Humane Society CA$245,478 President $16,315 $13,765 2024
Feral Friends Community Cat Alliance TX$245,383 President $50,000 $50,312 2023
Gio Fund Corporation NC$257,144 Secretary $13,563 $13,693 2024
Little Bear Sanctuary FL$245,123 Executive Officer $33,000 $30,290 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to UT 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 UT 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 default60th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)57th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted61st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted60th

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 (Kari Mcfee) 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 344 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (D20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $40,310 is reasonable (approximately the 60th 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.