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

Heartland Center For Leadership

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 470692706
NE · NTEE W70Z
FY ending 2025-02-28
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Craig Schroeder, Executive Director / CEO ($75,275) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 27 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 67th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

27 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 27 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$5,758 total compensation of comparable organizations → $136,300 $75,275
$10,35810th
$16,21725th
$61,895Median
$82,26375th
$104,19790th
$75,275This org · 67th
p10$10,358
p25$16,217
p50$61,895
p75$82,263
p90$104,197
$75,275

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 NE 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
Community Leadership Development Program NY$185,289 President & Ceo $76,758 $68,150 2023
American Leadership Forum Tacoma WA$198,320 President $24,700 $20,561 2025
Technical College Directors Association GA$204,001 Executive Dir. $120,000 $115,150 2024
Bold Leadership Network SC$206,208 Secretary $18,540 $19,004 2023
Shannon Leadership Institute MN$208,093 Executive Director (Through July 2024) $12,500 $11,788 2024
Deep Democracy Institute OR$158,227 President $68,700 $62,685 2023
Catawba Valley Leadership Foundation Inc NC$212,187 Foundation Director $42,375 $41,786 2024
Georgia Athletic Directors Association GA$214,748 Executive Director $6,000 $5,758 2024
Mclaran Leadership Foundation OR$217,633 Executive Director $15,154 $13,430 2024
Nebraska Human Resources Research NE$148,321 Executive Director $22,824 $24,120 2023
Move For America MN$220,083 Executive Director $7,500 $7,282 2023
Leadership Lorain County Inc OH$224,812 President & Ceo $75,800 $76,619 2024
Hope Anchor & Crew Inc IN$226,571 President $38,077 $39,453 2023
Rise Up Woman International IN$226,790 President $10,500 $10,879 2023
Lideramos CO$227,132 Executive Dir. $102,451 $93,754 2024
Leading For Change Inc AZ$231,487 President & Ceo $109,740 $100,722 2024
Greater Missouri Leadership MO$235,713 Executive Di $95,000 $98,863 2023
The Serving Way PA$240,190 President $10,667 $10,452 2023
Purposequest International Inc PA$242,579 President/chairman $10,428 $10,218 2023
Leadership Training International VA$247,977 President/ce $81,292 $74,908 2024
Women Of Color Roar Media CA$249,608 President $65,000 $53,566 2024
Leadership Ashtabula County Inc OH$252,148 Executive Director $63,059 $65,623 2023
Black Leadership & Legacies Inc IN$256,064 President $61,500 $61,895 2024
The Jackson Institute Inc GA$256,657 Chairman $142,041 $136,300 2024
Ventura County Leadership Academy CA$258,726 Executive Director $136,277 $109,409 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NE 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 NE 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 default67th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)59th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted67th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted59th

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 (Craig Schroeder) 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 27 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (W70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $75,275 is reasonable (approximately the 67th 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.