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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Carbon Underground

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 465582094
CA · NTEE C30
FY ending 2022-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Randi Fiat, Executive Director / CEO ($59,547) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 20 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 25th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Randi Fiat — reported title “DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

20 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 20 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$886 total compensation of comparable organizations → $250,105 $59,547
$22,99910th
$58,85125th
$74,509Median
$84,30475th
$95,50790th
$59,547This org · 25th
p10$22,999
p25$58,851
p50$74,509
p75$84,304
p90$95,507
$59,547

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
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $73,777 2024
Baduwa't Watershed Council CA$426,600 Board President $55,370 $50,332 2025
Native American Environmental CA$458,322 Executive Dir. $69,450 $64,801 2024
Buena Vista Audubon Society CA$482,988 Executive Dir. $95,729 $87,018 2025
Ocean Futures Society Inc CA$384,635 President $81,210 $78,012 2023
Rescape California CA$499,139 Executive Dir. $96,760 $90,283 2024
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $75,240 2023
The Earth Organization CA$516,561 Senior Geohydrolog $268,049 $250,105 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $10,936 2024
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $79,310 2024
Coastside Land Trust CA$535,050 Ed Until June $108,018 $103,764 2023
True Nature Society CA$546,821 Executive Dir. $28,703 $26,782 2024
Santa Barbara Audubon Society CA$322,002 Executive Dir. $67,866 $61,691 2025
South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition CA$304,230 Exec. Director $104,058 $94,589 2025
Sugi Foundation CA$299,320 Excfo $68,000 $63,448 2024
Sunflower Star Laboratory CA$299,106 Project Mgr. $26,085 $24,339 2024
Cultural Fire Management Council CA$581,248 President $950 $886 2024
Northshore Environmental Conservancy Inc CA$584,480 President $70,624 $67,843 2023
Wilderness Torah CA$598,285 Int Exec Dir $86,626 $80,827 2024
Earth Discovery Institute CA$613,242 Executive Dir. $86,818 $83,399 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2022 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 default25th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)25th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted25th

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 (Randi Fiat) 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 20 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $59,547 is reasonable (approximately the 25th 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.