Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John Michael Buffington, Executive Director / CEO ($9,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 576 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 7th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: John Michael Buffington — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 FL cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Native Plant Society | CO | $243,936 | - | $60,962 | $64,063 | 2023 |
| Methow Valley Trails Collaborative | WA | $244,446 | Executive Director | $51,076 | $48,677 | 2024 |
| Indigenous Peoples Council For | AK | $244,580 | Executive Dir. | $57,830 | $58,854 | 2024 |
| Clean Water For Haiti | WA | $243,637 | Executive | $3,369 | $3,306 | 2023 |
| Ecological Options Network | CA | $244,731 | President | $22,934 | $21,081 | 2024 |
| Otsego County Economic Alliance Inc | MI | $243,519 | Executive Director | $90,060 | $101,874 | 2023 |
| Natural Streams Foundation Inc | PA | $242,875 | President And Ceo | $35,069 | $37,227 | 2024 |
| Cottonwood Environmental Law Center Inc | MT | $242,672 | Executive Director | $120,000 | $141,761 | 2023 |
| Keep Evansville Beautiful Inc | IN | $242,493 | Past Executive Director | $62,047 | $69,651 | 2024 |
| Women For Conservation | VA | $242,451 | Executive Director | $48,000 | $50,792 | 2023 |
| Keep Virginia Beautiful | VA | $245,919 | Executive Director | $80,000 | $82,224 | 2024 |
| Friends Of The Mariana Trench | MP | $245,976 | Executive Dir. | $45,866 | $45,866 | 2024 |
| Action Center Inc | PA | $242,260 | Executive Director | $58,933 | $64,408 | 2023 |
| Wyoming Pathways | WY | $241,814 | Executive Director | $90,000 | $105,618 | 2023 |
| Lite Initiatives | CA | $241,633 | General Manager | $29,262 | $26,897 | 2024 |
| Transformers Foundation Inc | NY | $246,889 | Executive Director | $20,000 | $19,238 | 2024 |
| Tejas Roadrunners Non Profit | TX | $247,008 | Director | $28,058 | $29,877 | 2024 |
| Great Plains Restoration Council | TX | $247,029 | Ex Dir/founder | $83,116 | $88,503 | 2024 |
| Sierra County Land Trust | CA | $241,176 | Secretary/tr | $36,000 | $33,091 | 2024 |
| Iowa Interfaith Power And Light | IA | $247,131 | Exe Director | $76,354 | $88,994 | 2024 |
| Scenic Pittsburgh | PA | $240,966 | Executive Director | $71,500 | $78,142 | 2023 |
| Wilton Land Conservation Trust | CT | $247,293 | Executive Director | $92,500 | $95,048 | 2023 |
| St Mary's River Watershed Association Inc | MD | $247,582 | Exec. Director | $47,400 | $47,172 | 2024 |
| Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation | ID | $247,600 | Member | $1,493 | $1,740 | 2023 |
| Conservation Council For Hawaii | HI | $247,699 | Exectuvie Di | $75,000 | $71,478 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to FL cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 FL 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 7th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 7th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 11th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 6th |
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.
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
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.