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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

South Carolina Aquarium

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 570961897
SC · NTEE D500
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kevin Mills, Executive Director / CEO ($389,749) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 60 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 83rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

60 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 60 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$8,591 total compensation of comparable organizations → $707,603 $389,749
$131,82010th
$177,38025th
$242,858Median
$331,61575th
$431,84790th
$389,749This org · 83rd
p10$131,820
p25$177,380
p50$242,858
p75$331,615
p90$431,847
$389,749

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
Gulf Of Maine Research Institute ME$20,243,085 President/ceo Thru 12/31/23 $737,213 $707,603 2024
Oklahoma Humane Society OK$19,976,779 Ceo $125,893 $132,879 2024
Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To CA$19,921,706 President & Ceo $385,118 $318,766 2024
Peninsula Humane Society & Spca CA$19,795,109 President $294,901 $251,302 2023
Tennessee Wildlife Resources TN$19,778,172 Program Director $143,529 $144,615 2024
🔒 55 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 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 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 default83rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)82nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted83rd

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 60-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.