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

Fairfax Law Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 521265323
VA · NTEE I80C
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Courtnie L Norris, Executive Director / CEO ($8,139) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 17 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: Courtnie L Norris — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

17 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 17 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$9 total compensation of comparable organizations → $132,839 $8,139
$4,93210th
$12,33925th
$32,000Median
$76,33475th
$103,48190th
$8,139This org · 18th
p10$4,932
p25$12,339
p50$32,000
p75$76,334
p90$103,481
$8,139

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 VA 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
Unitarian Universalist Refugee And CA$148,644 President & Ceo $45,000 $39,090 2024
Pro Bono Counseling Project Inc MD$172,318 Executive Director $137,082 $132,732 2023
Migration Resource Center NY$174,041 Director $13,184 $12,339 2023
Valley Immigrant Advocates IL$175,952 Executive Director $10 $9 2025
Life After Justice IL$113,155 Executive Director $77,184 $76,334 2024
Apoyo Legal Al Emprendimiento Comunitario Inc PR$106,009 Director $32,000 $32,000 2023
Montgomery Bar Foundation PA$186,570 Executive Director $10,368 $10,402 2024
Legal Aid Foundation Of Western OH$188,633 Interim Executive Director $26,821 $29,421 2023
Maricopa County Bar Foundation AZ$190,092 Executive Director $3,528 $3,413 2024
Foundation Of The Monroe County Bar NY$97,946 Executive Director - Resigned Dec 2024 $17,320 $15,338 2025
Compass Immigration Legal Services PA$199,376 President $5,925 $5,944 2024
Chosen Family Law Center Inc NY$200,258 Treasurer $32,000 $29,089 2024
Center For Integrity In Forensic WI$208,031 Executive Director $122,813 $132,839 2023
Open Immigration Legal Services Inc CA$208,729 President $59,013 $51,262 2024
Disability Legal Services Of Indiana IN$209,446 Executive Director $79,163 $83,981 2024
Education Law Association PA$212,035 Executive Di $77,610 $80,157 2023
Redirections Of Rockingham County NC$216,870 Executive Director $37,000 $39,595 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA cost of living and 2023 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 VA 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)18th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Courtnie L Norris) 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 17 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (I80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $8,139 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.