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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Harvest Seed Project Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 472377828
TX · NTEE K20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Megan Neubauer, Executive Director / CEO ($11,548) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 67 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 18th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

67 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 67 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$53 total compensation of comparable organizations → $163,112 $11,548
$1,78310th
$23,73125th
$55,378Median
$79,77975th
$105,43590th
$11,548This org · 18th
p10$1,783
p25$23,731
p50$55,378
p75$79,779
p90$105,435
$11,548

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 TX 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
Livingston County Farm Bureau IL$390,754 Manager $99,955 $95,705 2025
East Farm Commercial Fisheries RI$388,202 Executive Director $102,500 $101,157 2023
Associated Water Users Of The Uinta And UT$394,923 River Commissioner $73,000 $74,691 2024
Pine County Agricultural Society MN$383,025 President $1,200 $1,155 2025
Jk Community Farm VA$382,989 Executive Dir. $84,000 $81,080 2024
Altaseads Conservancy Dba CA$398,003 President $41,667 $35,968 2024
San Joaquin Valley Quality CA$399,154 Executive V.p. $15,600 $13,864 2023
Grow Portland OR$381,184 Executive Di $38,834 $36,052 2024
Nordic Mountain Water Inc UT$380,172 President $825 $869 2023
City Fruit WA$376,409 Executive Director (Until 10/2024) $61,873 $55,378 2024
Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust NM$407,903 Executive Director $116,090 $124,822 2024
Pacific Nw Csa Coalition OR$371,698 Executive Director $45,626 $42,358 2024
Lamppost Farm OH$411,075 Executive Dir. $59,600 $64,969 2023
The Cornucopia Project Inc NH$369,577 Executive Director $70,975 $67,450 2023
Lehi Irrigation Company UT$411,275 President $1,500 $1,535 2024
Houston County Agricultural Society MN$363,282 President $500 $481 2025
Duffee Water Association Inc MS$418,972 President $34,885 $38,841 2024
Greensgrow Inc PA$421,347 Executive Director $20,513 $21,054 2023
Sheep And Goat Validation Of Texas TX$356,980 Director $2,750 $2,831 2023
Ludwig Water Users Association Inc AR$424,372 President $19,200 $21,575 2024
Hope Gardens MI$424,911 Executive Di $65,720 $67,813 2024
Yield Lab Institute MO$353,283 Coo $93,624 $99,131 2024
Whiting Conservation Cooperative WA$351,185 Executive Director $165,495 $148,123 2024
The Potato Leadership Education And DC$350,288 President $52,069 $45,678 2024
Udff Inc FL$350,281 Executive Di $133,622 $125,488 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TX 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 TX 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 default18th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted18th

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 (Megan Neubauer) 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 67 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (K20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $11,548 is reasonable (approximately the 18th 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.