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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 474844281
WI · NTEE I19
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Margo Kirchner, Executive Director / CEO ($84,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 124 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Margo Kirchner — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIR.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

124 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 124 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$9 total compensation of comparable organizations → $179,472 $84,000
$10,11410th
$20,64825th
$39,968Median
$59,97375th
$88,87790th
$84,000This org · 89th
p10$10,114
p25$20,648
p50$39,968
p75$59,973
p90$88,877
$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 WI 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
West Hamlin Unity Place Inc WV$138,243 President $53,483 $55,448 2024
Dickenson County Recovery Inc VA$139,345 Center Director $49,100 $45,394 2024
Tulsa County Bar Foundation Inc OK$139,953 Executive Dir. $12,000 $12,652 2024
Dukes Foundation Corporation GA$140,064 President $40,000 $38,511 2024
Stop The Violence Indianapolis Inc IN$141,307 President/executive Director $45,000 $46,781 2023
Buried Alive Project TX$142,193 National Director,board Member $182,000 $179,472 2023
Casa Of Bradley County Tennessee TN$142,400 Executive Director $29,453 $28,880 2025
Circle Of Hope Ministries Inc SC$144,339 President And Executive Director $13,920 $13,905 2024
The Starts Within Organization OH$132,733 Executive Director $37,500 $39,155 2023
Fairfax Law Foundation VA$144,619 Executive Director $8,139 $7,747 2023
Decarcerate Inc AR$144,955 Executive Dir. $50,000 $53,815 2024
Legacies Of Success Cdc OH$146,819 Executive Dir. $60,036 $60,886 2024
Jeffco Deangelis Foundation CO$147,262 Executive Di $90,000 $80,503 2025
The National Legal Foundation VA$129,741 President And Director $87,598 $78,899 2025
Legal Accountability Project DC$129,621 President $79,720 $66,985 2024
Sixth Judicial Court Casagal Program Inc MT$128,567 Exec. Director $28,596 $30,388 2023
Unitarian Universalist Refugee And CA$148,644 President & Ceo $45,000 $37,207 2024
Midland Kids First MI$128,391 President & $50,667 $51,555 2023
Orange Ribbons For Jaime Inc FL$148,951 Director $36,000 $32,383 2024
Alive At Last TX$149,272 President Exec Director $52,495 $50,281 2024
Serenity Fair Way Foundation OH$150,644 President & Executive Dire $30,000 $30,425 2024
Global Centurion Foundation Inc VA$151,054 President And Founder $20,000 $18,491 2024
Pataula Center For Children Inc GA$152,608 Office Manag $38,000 $37,666 2023
The National Foundation To End CO$122,441 Ceo $138,598 $127,253 2024
Alliance For Higher Education CO$122,429 Executive Di $22,349 $20,520 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WI 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 WI 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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)86th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted90th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Margo Kirchner) 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 124 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (I), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $84,000 is reasonable (approximately the 89th 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.