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

Seven Lakes Volunteer Fire And Rescue

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 561603859
NC · NTEE M23Z
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of David Alston, Executive Director / CEO ($74,354) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 16 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 88th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: David Alston — reported title “CHIEF”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

16 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 16 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7 total compensation of comparable organizations → $119,538 $74,354
$72010th
$13,00625th
$23,094Median
$52,31575th
$70,92590th
$74,354This org · 88th
p10$720
p25$13,006
p50$23,094
p75$52,315
p90$70,925
$74,354

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
First Branch Ambulance And Rescue VT$436,796 Exec Directo $51,295 $49,967 2024
Northern Kentucky Emergency Medical KY$445,809 Director $26,432 $28,296 2023
Bartlett Jackson Emergency Services NH$462,096 Exec Director $66,425 $59,360 2024
Inlet Volunteer Emergency Services NY$468,853 Squad Captai $69,360 $60,658 2024
Falkland Rescue Squad NC$482,491 Captain $81,191 $81,191 2024
Jeb Stuart Rescue Squad Incorporated VA$493,464 Secretary $290 $279 2023
South Robeson Rescue Unit Inc NC$374,596 Commander/chief $21,082 $21,082 2024
Stone Lake Area Fire Department Inc WI$363,341 President $1,116 $1,161 2023
Northstar Search And Rescue MN$359,769 President $125,000 $119,538 2024
Bell Arthur Ems Inc NC$546,983 Chief $22,856 $22,267 2025
Upper Scioto Valley Ambulance District OH$319,113 Clerk $14,505 $15,307 2023
Hamilton Co Special Tactics And Rescue Service TN$314,333 Chief President $6,000 $6,104 2024
Little Snake River Valley Ambulance WY$299,462 President $23,082 $23,921 2024
Alaska Dive Search Rescue And AK$297,295 Treasurer $8 $7 2024
Lake Harmony Rescue Squad And Ambulance Corps Inc PA$615,837 President $34,132 $32,942 2024
Sonco Ambulance Inc MI$655,747 Business Ma $21,600 $22,214 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 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 default88th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)88th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted88th
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 (David Alston) 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 16 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (M23), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $74,354 is reasonable (approximately the 88th 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.