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

Samara Learning Center

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 465701194
OR · NTEE B28
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Heather Chathem, Executive Director / CEO ($35,397) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 78 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 35th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

78 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 78 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,766 total compensation of comparable organizations → $158,387 $35,397
$12,26110th
$29,39625th
$46,119Median
$73,09175th
$95,49090th
$35,397This org · 35th
p10$12,261
p25$29,396
p50$46,119
p75$73,091
p90$95,490
$35,397

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 OR 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
Illuminations Center For Dyslexia MS$274,388 Executive Director $43,753 $53,862 2024
Education Destination LA$273,913 Vice Preside $27,550 $33,531 2024
Walton County Christian Learning Ce GA$285,357 Executive Director $27,817 $31,828 2023
Ludic Spectrum Center Inc TN$290,098 Executive Director, President $104,000 $117,717 2025
Suzuki Academy Of Columbia SC$267,327 Executive Director $37,129 $41,710 2025
Chabad Girls Academy Inc NY$291,966 Executive Director $68,249 $68,167 2024
Community Alliance For Special Education CA$265,586 Executive Director $12,002 $11,793 2023
Spectrum Linx Foundation Inc TX$293,503 Executive Director $19,231 $21,263 2024
Humane Equine Aid & Rapid Transport Inc VA$262,910 President $7,200 $7,486 2025
Options For College Success IL$261,650 Executive Director And Pre $48,934 $54,745 2023
Noticeability Inc MA$299,729 Executive Director $154,888 $158,387 2023
Sam Academy CA$300,722 Ceo $77,364 $76,021 2023
Cptkd Academy Inc NY$256,141 Office Manager $149,946 $149,765 2024
Longleaf Academy Inc NC$255,509 Executive Director $72,549 $82,858 2024
The Shane Center For Therapeutic OH$252,632 Executive Director $63,540 $74,386 2024
Ixora Montessori Inc VA$306,239 Chairman $86,730 $90,175 2025
The Shooting Star Foundation Inc MN$250,498 Executive Director $38,010 $41,514 2024
Smart Kids With Learning CT$307,889 Executive Di $82,500 $85,500 2024
Miramelinda Montessori School Inc MA$312,191 President & Treasurer $104,297 $106,654 2023
Goldenrod Montessori OH$242,242 Head Of Scho $39,655 $46,424 2024
Allium Montessori School Inc MA$315,872 Director & President $77,803 $79,560 2023
Faith Christian Academy TN$315,881 Executive Dir. $44,952 $50,881 2025
Montessori Intergenerational Learning Communities CO$242,078 Ceo $72,229 $76,553 2024
Helping Hand Developmental Center NC$316,904 Executive Director (7/1/23 - 10/13/23) $25,661 $29,307 2024
Minnesota Yucai Chinese School MN$241,151 Chair Principal $38,721 $42,290 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR cost of living and 2025 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 OR 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 default35th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)38th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted36th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted35th

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 (Heather Chathem) 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 78 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B28), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $35,397 is reasonable (approximately the 35th 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.