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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Warren Wilson College

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 560767736
NC · NTEE B420
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of William H Christy Term 61523, Executive Director / CEO ($216,270) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 99 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: William H Christy Term 61523 — reported title “INTERIM PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

99 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 99 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$97,099 total compensation of comparable organizations → $676,287 $216,270
$181,02710th
$237,01825th
$297,798Median
$349,38275th
$394,26190th
$216,270This org · 18th
p10$181,027
p25$237,018
p50$297,798
p75$349,382
p90$394,261
$216,270

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 NC 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
Bethel University Inc IN$44,455,066 President $225,151 $229,791 2023
Reinhardt University GA$44,666,585 President $271,010 $256,157 2024
Hampshire College Trustees MA$44,848,291 President $406,190 $353,258 2023
Columbus College Of Art & Design OH$44,991,443 President $372,364 $381,693 2023
Malone University OH$44,995,967 President (Start 07/22) $233,672 $239,527 2023
🔒 94 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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)15th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted26th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted17th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 99-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.