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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Spokane River Forum

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 611566039
WA · NTEE C32
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Doris Avery, Executive Director / CEO ($46,376) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 57 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 26th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Doris Avery — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

57 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 57 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,347 total compensation of comparable organizations → $148,821 $46,376
$11,08710th
$37,74825th
$62,671Median
$82,79275th
$113,47890th
$46,376This org · 26th
p10$11,087
p25$37,748
p50$62,671
p75$82,792
p90$113,478
$46,376

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 WA 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
Jacobs Creek Watershed Association PA$208,570 Executive Director $40,240 $47,366 2023
Friends Of Deckers Creek Inc WV$208,060 Exec. Director $41,273 $51,234 2024
Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Assoc TX$207,231 Executive Dir. $43,500 $49,888 2024
Project O CA$216,852 President & Ceo $54,000 $55,039 2023
Save Our Saluda SC$200,079 President $61,170 $73,163 2024
Pokegama Lake Association MN$218,503 Secretary $2,700 $3,058 2024
Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper PA$198,212 Executive Di $57,120 $65,306 2024
Jersey Shore Partnership Foundation Inc NJ$221,167 President $75,063 $76,837 2024
Friends Of Palm Beach Inc FL$188,309 President $60,000 $64,623 2024
The Beaver Coalition Inc OR$231,797 Executive Director $83,697 $89,111 2024
Chesapeake Rivers Association Inc MD$232,603 Secretary $120,000 $128,623 2024
The Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association NJ$233,111 Coordinator $51,611 $54,391 2023
One People One Reef CA$235,610 V Chair&co-dir. $28,000 $28,539 2023
Pozo De Agua Inc PR$181,070 President $21,020 $21,576 2024
Lake Worth Lagoon Environmental Defense FL$180,852 Executive Direc $15,701 $17,410 2023
Hui O Koolaupoko HI$236,830 Project Director $36,775 $37,748 2024
Gull Chain Of Lakes Association MN$238,044 Secretary/tr $12,619 $14,296 2024
Lifetides Institute SC$239,327 Vice Chair $26,500 $31,696 2024
Madison River Foundation MT$240,092 Former Executive Director $109,125 $138,845 2023
Friends Of The Shiawassee River MI$177,141 Exec Directo $46,752 $56,959 2023
Idaho Association Of Soil Conservation ID$176,628 Executive Director $42,000 $52,738 2023
Tennessee Riverkeeper AL$174,228 Executive Di $114,000 $141,199 2024
St Mary's River Watershed Association Inc MD$247,582 Exec. Director $47,400 $50,806 2024
Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance NH$248,360 Executive Di $74,862 $79,251 2024
Pennsylvania Lake Management Society PA$168,728 Executive Director $54,815 $62,671 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA cost of living and 2025 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 WA 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 default26th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)35th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted26th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted26th

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 (Doris Avery) 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 57 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C32), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $46,376 is reasonable (approximately the 26th 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.