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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Smoke Signals Community Services In

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 581357330
GA · NTEE B90
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jon Markey, Executive Director / CEO ($17,525) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 470 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 12th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

470 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 470 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$10 total compensation of comparable organizations → $447,043 $17,525
$15,14710th
$37,46025th
$59,841Median
$86,39275th
$110,59490th
$17,525This org · 12th
p10$15,147
p25$37,460
p50$59,841
p75$86,392
p90$110,594
$17,525

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
Kdo Academy PA$376,266 Board Member $31,139 $30,087 2025
Everlasting Education Inc CA$376,802 Board Member/executive Director $75,273 $64,644 2024
Empowering Latina Leadership & Action WA$376,803 Executive Director Board President $68,500 $60,994 2024
Joseph And Edna Josephson Inst Of Ethics CA$374,983 President $129,226 $110,978 2024
Drepung Gomang Institute KY$377,648 Executive Director $7,750 $8,281 2024
Giant Thinking NY$377,824 Ceo $3,300 $2,966 2024
Arizona Hispanic School AZ$378,507 Executive Dir. $29,667 $28,376 2024
Suny College Of Esf NY$373,599 Former President $1,203 $1,081 2024
Teach2learn Inc NY$373,524 Executive Director $61,722 $57,108 2023
Millwood Impact WA$373,348 Executive Di $46,667 $41,553 2024
Global Outreach And Love Of Soccer Inc WA$373,191 Director $71,000 $63,220 2024
California Victor University CA$372,829 President $24,000 $20,611 2024
Chattacademy Community Schools TN$372,749 Executive Director $45,455 $48,923 2023
Edu Inc FL$372,668 President $90,000 $84,087 2024
Roots Connected Inc NY$379,637 Executive Director $122,545 $107,292 2025
Colorado Rising For Communities CO$372,469 Executive Di $80,195 $78,737 2023
Girls 4 Science IL$380,207 Excutive Dir/secretary $70,000 $68,443 2024
Rosie Riveters VA$371,870 Secretary Executive Director $90,000 $86,425 2024
Thoreau College Inc WI$380,535 Executive Director $39,500 $41,027 2024
Compass Outreach And Education Center Inc FL$371,658 President $18,267 $17,067 2024
Stream Innovations AL$380,712 Founder - Ceo $70,024 $75,237 2024
Little Rubies Inc MN$381,588 Director $64,500 $63,386 2024
Piano & More VA$370,083 President $78,792 $75,662 2024
Entrepreneurship Foundation Inc CT$370,026 President $35,000 $33,602 2023
Watermark Homeschool Enrichment Inc FL$382,427 Director - President $35,000 $32,700 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to GA 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 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 default12th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted15th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted10th

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 (Jon Markey) 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 470 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B90), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $17,525 is reasonable (approximately the 12th 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.