Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Miguel Santiago, Executive Director / CEO ($21,020) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 50 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 20th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: Miguel Santiago — 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); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Worth Lagoon Environmental Defense | FL | $180,852 | Executive Direc | $15,701 | $16,165 | 2023 |
| Friends Of The Shiawassee River | MI | $177,141 | Exec Directo | $46,752 | $48,133 | 2023 |
| Idaho Association Of Soil Conservation | ID | $176,628 | Executive Director | $42,000 | $43,241 | 2023 |
| Tennessee Riverkeeper | AL | $174,228 | Executive Di | $114,000 | $114,000 | 2024 |
| Friends Of Palm Beach Inc | FL | $188,309 | President | $60,000 | $60,000 | 2024 |
| Pennsylvania Lake Management Society | PA | $168,728 | Executive Director | $54,815 | $54,815 | 2024 |
| Upstream Watch | ME | $163,974 | Executive Director | $63,000 | $63,000 | 2024 |
| Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper | PA | $198,212 | Executive Di | $57,120 | $57,120 | 2024 |
| Save Our Saluda | SC | $200,079 | President | $61,170 | $61,170 | 2024 |
| Westlake Aquatic Center Inc | MO | $161,905 | Staff | $7,457 | $7,457 | 2024 |
| Brodheads Watershed Corporation | PA | $159,342 | Executive Director (Until 10/2023) | $53,190 | $54,761 | 2023 |
| Nansemond River Preservation Alliance | VA | $157,999 | Presidentceo | $79,500 | $79,500 | 2024 |
| Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Assoc | TX | $207,231 | Executive Dir. | $43,500 | $43,500 | 2024 |
| Friends Of Deckers Creek Inc | WV | $208,060 | Exec. Director | $41,273 | $41,273 | 2024 |
| Jacobs Creek Watershed Association | PA | $208,570 | Executive Director | $40,240 | $41,429 | 2023 |
| Werkin Outdoors | NC | $153,506 | Committee Chair | $28,037 | $28,037 | 2024 |
| Spokane River Forum | WA | $208,638 | Executive Dir. | $46,376 | $45,181 | 2025 |
| Streets Run Watershed Association | PA | $153,299 | Executive Director | $88,000 | $88,000 | 2024 |
| Altamaha Riverkeeper Inc | GA | $148,849 | Executive Director | $77,920 | $77,920 | 2024 |
| The Pennsylvania Pink Zone | PA | $148,218 | Executive Director | $50,085 | $48,794 | 2025 |
| International Society Of Limnology-sil | NC | $145,957 | Editor In Chief-inland Waters | $5,000 | $5,000 | 2024 |
| Wentworth Watershed Association | NH | $145,870 | Executive Director | $77,861 | $77,861 | 2024 |
| The Downstream Project | VA | $145,658 | Executive Director | $65,076 | $65,076 | 2024 |
| Project O | CA | $216,852 | President & Ceo | $54,000 | $55,595 | 2023 |
| Pokegama Lake Association | MN | $218,503 | Secretary | $2,700 | $2,700 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PR 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. 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 | 20th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 20th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 20th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 20th |
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.