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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Acus Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 465014824
CA · NTEE H99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sarah Weiss, Executive Director / CEO ($44,601) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 13 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 46th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Sarah Weiss — reported title “Program Dir.”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

13 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 13 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,238 total compensation of comparable organizations → $321,442 $44,601
$8,40910th
$24,80225th
$74,517Median
$170,77975th
$240,23290th
$44,601This org · 46th
p10$8,409
p25$24,802
p50$74,517
p75$170,779
p90$240,232
$44,601

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 CA 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
Kids Get Cancer Too OH$53,203 President $2,640 $3,238 2024
Chan Soon-shiong Nanthealth Foundation CA$56,979 Director Of Govt. Relations $321,442 $321,442 2024
Tarlov Cyst Disease Foundation TN$48,219 Past Exec Dir $132,000 $160,683 2024
Mind First Foundation MA$58,286 President $232,667 $242,129 2024
The Foundation For Embryonic Competence NJ$60,778 Scientific Director $225,000 $232,645 2024
Williams Heart Foundation IL$42,907 President $150,000 $170,779 2024
The Foundation Of The Children's OR$42,227 Ceo (Starting Nov. '24) $13,277 $13,911 2025
American Eye Study Club Foundation IL$42,037 Executive Di $6,000 $7,033 2023
Mycobacterium Dx Research Lab Inc CA$41,238 Secretary $74,517 $74,517 2024
Acreditas Global IL$40,622 President $33,550 $39,326 2023
Urology Research & Education Foundation TX$38,637 Director $22,833 $26,451 2024
The Healthy Birth And Infant Brains WY$67,642 Executive Director $20,000 $24,802 2024
Northwell Health Medical Pa Pc NY$71,513 Ceo $75,656 $79,172 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default46th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)46th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted54th
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 (Sarah Weiss) 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 13 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (H), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $44,601 is reasonable (approximately the 46th 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.