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

Project Light Of Manatee Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 650490652
FL · NTEE B99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Elena Farkas, Executive Director / CEO ($83,700) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 439 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 69th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

How comparable organizations were selected

439 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 439 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$134 total compensation of comparable organizations → $340,421 $83,700
$17,89510th
$38,44425th
$63,202Median
$91,55975th
$123,03690th
$83,700This org · 69th
p10$17,895
p25$38,444
p50$63,202
p75$91,559
p90$123,036
$83,700

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 FL cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateTotal revenueTotal compSource
Challenge Sonoma AdventureCA $372,717$31,877 990
Franklin Tomorrow IncTN $373,443$98,218 990
Process Work InstituteOR $373,574$73,722 990
Student-athletes Organized To UnderDC $374,326$80,708 990
BehawaiiorgHI $374,360$59,806 990
Siddhartha School PartnershipME $374,532$36,063 990
If You Heard What I Heard IncCA $371,217$7,659 990
Plumfield Academy IncMA $374,824$42,646 990
The Savannah Book Festival IncGA $370,657$67,218 990
National Center For Entrepreneurship And InnovationDC $370,000$27,332 990
The Caterpillar LabNH $369,884$61,118 990
Bethel Enrichment Center IncorporatedNC $376,665$148 990
Women In NeuroscienceTX $376,881$60,694 990
Sylvan RoboticsOH $368,756$134 990
The Resiliency Collaborative IncNC $368,490$92,985 990
Mcminnville Christian AcademyOR $377,691$16,182 990
Kentucky Center For Public Service JournalismKY $368,320$113,386 990
Kingdom Classical AcademyPA $378,121$25,499 990
Aamva Region I IncVA $367,811$27,731 990
Building Equity Aspiration ResilienceCA $378,984$98,419 990
The Growing Tree Learning CenterVA $366,924$52,786 990
Farms To Grow IncCA $366,693$33,595 990
The Hive DgoCO $366,407$55,371 990
North Korea Human Rights WatchOH $365,913$92,860 990
W5yi Licensing Services IncTX $365,305$49,290 990

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 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.

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 default69th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)73rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted72nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted63rd

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 (Elena Farkas) 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 439 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $83,700 is reasonable (approximately the 69th 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). 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.