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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Southern Association Of Colleges

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 580566240
GA · NTEE B110
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dr Belle S Wheelan, Executive Director / CEO ($72,013) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 54 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Dr Belle S Wheelan — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

54 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 54 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$202 total compensation of comparable organizations → $220,832 $72,013
$96710th
$6,16025th
$14,865Median
$38,18475th
$82,64490th
$72,013This org · 89th
p10$967
p25$6,160
p50$14,865
p75$38,184
p90$82,644
$72,013

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 GA 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
American Schools Association Inc NV$16,138 Chairman $42,000 $39,620 2025
Grand Valley Research Corporation MI$16,064 President $38,948 $38,835 2024
Reformation Seminary AZ$16,407 Ceo $15,000 $13,936 2024
West Hills Christian School Foundation OR$16,427 Director $6,981 $6,448 2023
Detroit Musicians Fund MI$16,522 Chair $1,131 $1,128 2024
Edward J Robson Family Foundation AZ$15,882 President $924 $858 2024
Univ Of South Alabama Foundation AL$15,718 Director/pre $62,942 $65,687 2024
Huntington Beach City School District CA$16,902 President $11,027 $9,199 2024
Read Aloud America Inc HI$15,520 Vice-preside $9,325 $8,303 2023
The Collaborative Charter Services CA$15,428 Chief Executive Officer $5,361 $4,604 2023
Fred And Gertrude England Hospitality NY$15,358 Treasurer $6,960 $6,255 2023
Global Ou Inc OK$15,315 Director/president $41,707 $45,675 2023
Mabel K Toops Scholarship Trus IN$17,308 Truwstee $250 $255 2024
Wise Earth School Of Ayurveda NC$17,477 President $22,000 $21,959 2024
Energetics Education CO$14,775 Director $100,000 $95,365 2023
Green Street Academy Foundation Inc MD$14,490 Former Board Trustee $6,221 $5,784 2023
Act For Women And Girls CA$14,279 Executive Director $85,544 $69,518 2025
Tlbu Foundation Inc NJ$18,289 Secretary/treasurer $30,000 $25,208 2025
Sherburne Area Local Development NY$14,098 Ceo $40,316 $36,232 2023
The Ernest Becker Foundation WA$18,459 Executive Director $14,900 $13,267 2023
Brown Hudner Navy Scholarship Foundation VA$13,974 President $17,102 $16,423 2023
Bpi Foundation DC$13,731 President $62,707 $54,727 2023
Believers Achieve Dreams OH$13,607 Exec. Director $500 $512 2024
Building Industry Association Of OH$18,843 Executive Director $16,606 $17,492 2023
Dr J E Green Educational Trust AL$18,849 Trustee $11,975 $12,866 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to GA 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 GA 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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)87th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Dr Belle S Wheelan) 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 54 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (B), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $72,013 is reasonable (approximately the 89th 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.