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

The Happy Day Express Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 571214244
IL · NTEE P33
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sandra Coomer, Executive Director / CEO ($45,044) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 322 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 39th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Sandra Coomer — reported title “Admin Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

322 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 322 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$255 total compensation of comparable organizations → $377,809 $45,044
$16,81610th
$34,98325th
$51,584Median
$64,27975th
$79,81490th
$45,044This org · 39th
p10$16,816
p25$34,983
p50$51,584
p75$64,279
p90$79,814
$45,044

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 IL 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
Tender Loving Care Creative Learning MS$383,031 Vice President $44,352 $50,245 2023
Urban Learning And Teaching Center DC$383,216 Executive Di $70,923 $61,489 2024
Morrison Community Day Care Center IL$383,595 Staff Director $38,795 $38,795 2023
Mendota Child Development Center Inc IL$380,705 Director $21,235 $21,235 2023
Bright Futures Growth And Development CA$379,961 President & Ceo $59,615 $50,860 2024
Early Steps Learning Foundation MN$384,953 Executive Director $43,660 $43,882 2023
Morning Star Child Care CO$384,967 Director $54,893 $53,540 2023
Lasalle Early Childhood Center Inc NY$379,537 Pres/exec Dir $57,087 $50,966 2024
Norton Area Childcare Association KS$385,600 Director $37,600 $41,318 2023
God's Hands Academy CA$378,715 President $110,651 $94,399 2024
Come And See Preschool & After School CA$385,895 President $99,000 $82,283 2025
Sharon Studer Inc TX$378,476 Executive Direc $54,033 $53,401 2024
Big Bird Daycare Inc AL$386,395 Director $1,500 $1,648 2023
Sanctuary Life Inc IN$378,115 Secretary $12,000 $12,872 2023
Tlc Child Care Inc NJ$386,732 Trustee $21,182 $18,685 2024
Millbrook Early Childhood Education NY$387,466 Executive Director $72,519 $64,743 2024
Lifeways Of Wisconsin Inc WI$376,674 Secretary/treasurer $56,413 $56,708 2025
Orleans After School Activities MA$388,272 Executive Di $93,263 $82,801 2024
Steampark Inc NJ$375,507 Executive Di $58,500 $53,128 2023
Rainbow Child Care Center MS$374,365 Director $855 $969 2023
Destiny Kidz Center WA$373,878 President $26,000 $23,678 2023
Great Beginnings Preschool & Child TX$390,852 Executive Director $31,200 $30,835 2024
Tri-con Child Care Center Inc IL$373,563 Executive Director $80,846 $76,502 2025
Leap Of Faith Ministries Inc IN$391,533 President $2,900 $3,022 2024
Abc 123 Human Resources Inc TX$392,115 President $21,946 $21,689 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL 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 IL 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 default39th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)38th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted40th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted38th

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 (Sandra Coomer) 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 322 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (P33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $45,044 is reasonable (approximately the 39th 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.