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

Santa Cruz Works

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 465155901
CA · NTEE S30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Doug Erickson, Executive Director / CEO ($84,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 129 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: Doug Erickson — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

129 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 129 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,632 total compensation of comparable organizations → $248,272 $84,000
$15,34810th
$41,11225th
$76,350Median
$103,84575th
$130,83390th
$84,000This org · 60th
p10$15,348
p25$41,112
p50$76,350
p75$103,845
p90$130,833
$84,000

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 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
Creative Portland Corporation ME$236,053 Executive Di $31,843 $36,926 2024
Economic Development Professionals Association SD$236,950 Chairman $2,000 $2,632 2023
Parnassah Network Inc NJ$236,955 Ceo & Trustee $18,000 $19,162 2023
World Trade Center Association CA$237,400 President And Ceo $40,192 $40,192 2024
St Mary's County Community MD$234,480 Executive Director $50,000 $54,135 2024
Yuma Multiversity Campus Corporation AZ$238,751 President & Ceo $118,773 $132,283 2024
Sector67 Inc WI$233,249 President $36,000 $44,826 2023
Southside First Economic TX$240,099 Interim Ceo $28,750 $34,289 2023
Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber MI$241,122 Ceo & President $4,838 $5,783 2024
So Cal Corporate Growth Partners CA$241,473 Executive Director $87,590 $90,177 2023
Economic Development Corporation Of IL$243,161 Ceo $80,000 $91,082 2024
Johnson County Economic Development Corp MO$229,565 Executive Director $86,357 $109,053 2023
Everett Station District Alliance WA$244,137 Executive Director $47,997 $51,235 2023
Milestone Growth Capital Institute MI$244,356 President And C.e.o. $36,450 $43,570 2024
Business & Education Network Inc KY$227,365 Executive Director $13,485 $16,778 2024
Agile City Winston-salem NC$246,249 Executive Di $163,787 $201,777 2023
Economic Collaborative Of N Arizona AZ$246,722 President & Ceo $107,635 $116,789 2025
Economic Development Partnership Of Wrig MN$223,376 Executive Director $69,060 $79,026 2024
Lincoln County Economic Dev Foundation KS$223,067 Director $61,163 $78,782 2023
Norfolk Innovation Corridor VA$221,725 Executive Di $20,000 $22,363 2024
Downtown Janesville Inc WI$221,656 Managing Direct $74,519 $90,127 2024
The Space On Main VT$251,549 Executive Dir. $76,000 $91,205 2023
We Lead IA$220,331 Executive Director $78,125 $99,064 2024
Elevate Edgerton Inc KS$220,011 President/tr $137,815 $172,422 2024
Inner City Green Team Economic And Enviromental Development NY$217,956 Charlton $100,000 $104,647 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 default60th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)73rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted62nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted49th

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 (Doug Erickson) 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 129 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (S30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $84,000 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.