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

Childrens Aid Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 630934005
AL · NTEE G81Z
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Gayle Watts, Executive Director / CEO ($20,800) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$8,576 total compensation of comparable organizations → $115,489 $20,800
$21,77510th
$37,40825th
$60,521Median
$76,25475th
$97,95190th
$20,800This org · 13th
p10$21,775
p25$37,408
p50$60,521
p75$76,254
p90$97,951
$20,800

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 AL 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
The Lazarus House A Center For Wellness TX$368,650 Executive Director $45,784 $42,393 2024
Fxb Usa Inc NY$346,549 Program Strategy & Innovation $120,000 $100,372 2024
Camp Dreamcatcher PA$407,018 Executive Di $102,180 $94,320 2024
Allies Linked For The Prevention Of Hiv ID$407,074 Executive Dir. $32,927 $32,423 2024
Being Alive San Diego CA$410,750 Executive Director $105,833 $82,411 2025
Corporacion El Punto En La Montana PR$422,445 Velez $46,080 $46,080 2024
Beautiful Gate Outreach Center Inc DE$423,891 Program Director $66,083 $61,663 2023
Hope In View Inc IN$298,684 Coordinator $62,000 $60,521 2024
North Carolina Aids Action Network NC$264,894 Executive Dir. $120,750 $115,489 2024
Telluride Aids Benefit Inc CO$472,865 Executive Director $79,050 $68,354 2025
Spectrum Health Care MO$258,493 Executive Director $15,396 $15,094 2024
The Face-to-face Project Inc NY$248,834 Executive Director $36,923 $31,796 2023
Damien Center Real Estate Holding Inc IN$519,836 President/ceo $43,821 $42,775 2024
Imani And Unidad IN$531,128 Executive Director $69,750 $70,097 2023
P A C T A Inc PR$548,473 Director $8,576 $8,576 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AL 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 AL 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted93rd

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 (Gayle Watts) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (G81), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $20,800 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.