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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Third Option Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 464884866
VA · NTEE P99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steven T Cashen, Executive Director / CEO ($255,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 1201 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 79th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Steven T Cashen — reported title “CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

1,201 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 1,201 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,284 total compensation of comparable organizations → $1,260,978 $255,000
$81,80410th
$134,36825th
$181,601Median
$236,02175th
$309,41090th
$255,000This org · 79th
p10$81,804
p25$134,368
p50$181,601
p75$236,021
p90$309,410
$255,000

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 VA 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
New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence NH$12,799,127 Executive Director $125,353 $116,787 2025
The Children's Center VA$12,800,888 Former Exe D $101,147 $98,540 2025
Eggleston Youth Centers Inc CA$12,803,542 Executive Director $227,596 $209,555 2023
Shiloh Home Inc CO$12,793,816 Resid And Ed $103,894 $103,177 2024
Life Center Inc MI$12,804,805 Executive Director $131,449 $140,519 2024
🔒 1196 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA 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 VA 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 default79th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted86th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted73rd

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 1201-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.