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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Hilton Head Island Deep Well

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 570566098
SC · NTEE C22Z
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 11, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sandy Gillis, Executive Director / CEO ($143,090) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 611 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 64th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Sandy Gillis — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

611 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 611 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,053 total compensation of comparable organizations → $513,369 $143,090
$65,17910th
$92,90625th
$122,765Median
$164,97975th
$213,42490th
$143,090This org · 64th
p10$65,179
p25$92,906
p50$122,765
p75$164,979
p90$213,424
$143,090

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 SC 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
Lan Su Chinese Garden OR$2,888,405 Executive Dir. $164,704 $142,407 2024
National Garden Clubs Inc MO$2,891,058 Executive Di $120,212 $115,488 2025
350 Seattle WA$2,892,979 Executive Director $99,320 $82,791 2024
North Olympic Land Trust WA$2,884,024 Executive Director $82,303 $68,606 2024
Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc MA$2,881,189 Interim Executive Director $82,426 $70,999 2023
🔒 606 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 SC 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 SC 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 default64th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)54th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted60th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted60th

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 611-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 11, 2026.