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

The Outside Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 464305638
SC · NTEE C60
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dr Jean Fruh, Executive Director / CEO ($45,833) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 95 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 32nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Dr Jean Fruh — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

95 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 95 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$494 total compensation of comparable organizations → $395,829 $45,833
$16,58510th
$37,40325th
$59,402Median
$75,23975th
$100,73490th
$45,833This org · 32nd
p10$16,585
p25$37,403
p50$59,402
p75$75,239
p90$100,734
$45,833

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 SC 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
Friends Of San Damiano Inc WI$337,155 Director $11,760 $11,773 2024
Biodiversity For A Livable Climate MA$337,077 Executive Di $53,333 $45,939 2024
The Greenhouse Project NV$336,362 Executive Di $36,907 $35,461 2024
Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center HI$336,176 Executive Di $72,500 $62,219 2024
Sustainable San Mateo County CA$335,463 Executive Director $61,271 $52,213 2023
Oklahoma Energy Education Foundation OK$341,930 Executive Director $17,282 $18,779 2023
Global Inheritance Inc CA$342,197 Executive Di $30,508 $25,998 2023
Education Economics Environmental Climate And Heal MS$332,687 Board Member $463 $494 2024
Perennial MO$345,969 Executive Director $54,900 $55,737 2024
Parking Reform Network OR$347,252 President $30,000 $26,705 2024
Always Choose Adventures CO$350,083 Executive Di $8,100 $7,445 2024
The Kiva Center CO$351,466 Treasurer $59,750 $54,918 2024
Life Frames Inc CA$322,566 Executive Dir. $46,170 $39,344 2023
Families In Nature TX$319,367 Executive Dir. $88,838 $85,182 2024
High Desert Horticultural Center OR$358,304 Nursery Manager $31,603 $28,132 2024
Health Professionals For A Healthy MN$317,816 Executive Director $72,359 $68,535 2024
Crowe's Nest Farm Inc TX$317,182 Vice Pres $42,000 $41,462 2023
Craters Of The Moon Natural History Asso ID$360,693 Executive Director $62,538 $63,770 2024
Pilsen Enviromental Rights And Reform Organization IL$363,375 President $1,950 $1,838 2024
Eastern Region Association Of Forest And Nature Schools MD$364,438 Executive Director $76,916 $70,965 2023
Harvest Of All First Nations CO$311,307 Chair $60,489 $55,597 2024
Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center MT$309,188 Trustee And $53,045 $56,428 2023
Olympic Nature Experience WA$307,779 Exec Director $28,628 $24,568 2024
Green Beverly 107q Inc MA$369,863 President $48,000 $41,346 2024
Habitatmap Incorporated NY$370,978 Executive Di $23,000 $19,922 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to SC 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 SC 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 default32nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)27th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted33rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted31st

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 (Dr Jean Fruh) 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 95 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $45,833 is reasonable (approximately the 32nd 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.