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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Wild South

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 562173810
NC · NTEE C36
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kevin Massey, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 799 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 38th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

799 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 799 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$295 total compensation of comparable organizations → $838,728 $60,000
$21,85010th
$46,12825th
$69,214Median
$90,99175th
$113,49390th
$60,000This org · 38th
p10$21,850
p25$46,128
p50$69,214
p75$90,991
p90$113,493
$60,000

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 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
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $66,079 2024
Gunpowder Riverkeeper Inc MD$431,484 Executive Director $65,721 $59,465 2024
Seaworthy Foundation Inc FL$431,973 Founder Ceo $80,000 $72,734 2024
Ecology In Classrooms And Outdoors OR$432,173 Executive Director $93,836 $86,827 2023
Western Leaders Network CO$432,415 Executive Dir. $110,053 $102,130 2024
Mother Lode Land Trust CA$430,183 Executive Dir. $60,000 $50,142 2024
Timucuan Parks Foundation Inc FL$429,807 Executive Di $2,692 $2,448 2024
Wsbz Farms AR$429,747 Executive Dir. $53,550 $59,976 2023
Efficiency Valuation Organization DC$429,723 Executive Director $146,752 $124,633 2024
Oyster River Ecology Inc FL$429,245 Executive Director $117,000 $103,632 2025
Earth Day New York Inc NY$433,796 Executive Di $109,419 $98,517 2023
Coral Bay Community Council VI$434,239 Executive Director $83,628 $83,628 2024
Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory Inc AZ$428,340 President $23,750 $22,106 2024
Mclean Game Refuge Inc CT$428,079 President $49,166 $44,614 2024
Foundation For Agricultural And Rural ND$427,888 Executive Director $91,068 $96,721 2024
Dolores River Boating Advocates CO$434,872 Executive Director $90,444 $83,933 2024
Protect The Adirondacks Inc NY$427,840 Executive Di $117,273 $102,559 2024
Greater Arkansas River Nature Assoc CO$427,717 Executive Di $85,000 $78,881 2024
St Croix International Waterway Commission ME$427,550 Executive Director $50,526 $50,411 2023
Carbon Underground CA$435,291 Director, Strategic Partnerships $59,547 $53,334 2022
Khm International HI$435,307 Exec Director $74,675 $64,705 2024
Northwest South Dakota Regional Landfill SD$427,317 Manager $232,277 $255,424 2023
Southeast Alaska Land Trust AK$435,491 Executive Di $90,180 $85,906 2023
Guadalupe-blanco River Trust TX$427,195 Executive Director $33,000 $31,948 2024
Alliance For Flushing Meadows Corona NY$435,619 Executive Director $63,607 $55,627 2024

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 default38th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)33rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted39th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted35th

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 (Kevin Massey) 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 799 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (C), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,000 is reasonable (approximately the 38th 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.