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

Ecological Options Network

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 542100414
CA · NTEE C99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mary Beth Brangan, Executive Director / CEO ($22,934) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 38 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

38 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 38 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,133 total compensation of comparable organizations → $261,596 $22,934
$13,10610th
$40,53525th
$61,017Median
$100,94675th
$131,73190th
$22,934This org · 13th
p10$13,106
p25$40,535
p50$61,017
p75$100,946
p90$131,731
$22,934

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 CA 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
Otsego County Economic Alliance Inc MI$243,519 Executive Director $90,060 $110,831 2023
Natural Streams Foundation Inc PA$242,875 President And Ceo $35,069 $40,500 2024
Ohio River Way OH$248,751 Executive Dir. $38,262 $46,931 2024
Eastrail Partners WA$240,542 Executive Director $118,483 $126,476 2023
Sovereign Energy NM$238,491 Executive Director $11,538 $14,796 2023
The Ike Foundation NJ$235,402 Trustee $253,000 $261,596 2024
Mo Hives Kc MO$230,471 Executive Director $34,900 $42,808 2024
Live Green Connecticut Inc CT$260,833 President $137,500 $153,710 2023
Cultiva International Inc UT$225,527 President $36,000 $43,929 2023
Pacific Beach Coalition CA$265,137 President $52,000 $52,000 2024
Apis Arborea CA$223,552 President $67,670 $69,669 2023
Mississippis Lower Delta Partnership MS$222,010 Coordinator $66,790 $88,691 2023
Rewild Long Island Inc NY$220,764 Director $5,536 $5,793 2024
Wilderness Volunteers Giving Something Back AZ$269,117 Executive Director $69,457 $77,358 2024
Assoc Of Us Delegates To The Gulf Of ME$216,510 Executive Director & Counc $73,905 $85,702 2024
The Firefly Gathering Inc NC$211,169 Executive Director $24,805 $30,559 2023
808 Cleanups HI$278,781 Executive Director $43,200 $44,791 2024
Gorge Rebuild-it Community Project OR$209,834 Vice Chairexecutive Director $76,500 $80,151 2025
Bee The World Corp TX$280,446 President $2,593 $3,004 2024
American Environmental Health Studies Pr VT$206,502 Director $75,000 $87,422 2024
Ballard Family Nature Center Inc IL$204,991 Co-director $34,670 $40,638 2023
Montana Conservation Society MT$285,400 Executive Director $110,000 $137,317 2024
Fair Future Movement Inc WI$199,436 Executive Director $30,291 $37,718 2023
Friends Of Wilmington Parks DE$194,460 Executive Director $45,000 $51,027 2024
Citizens For Nuclear Technology Awareness SC$296,011 Current Exec Dir $62,750 $75,812 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Mary Beth Brangan) 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 38 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $22,934 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.