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

Redwood Justice Fund

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 680334309
CA · NTEE R20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Noelle Hanrahan, Executive Director / CEO ($140,550) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 69 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 96th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Noelle Hanrahan — reported title “President & ED”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

69 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 69 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,913 total compensation of comparable organizations → $178,898 $140,550
$27,55710th
$56,05125th
$78,229Median
$89,04175th
$113,94690th
$140,550This org · 96th
p10$27,557
p25$56,051
p50$78,229
p75$89,041
p90$113,946
$140,550

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 CA 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
Piedmont Casa Inc GA$345,323 Exec Director $55,750 $64,917 2024
Peace Boat Us Inc NY$345,491 Executive Director $42,000 $43,952 2024
Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition MO$345,862 Board President $62,111 $78,435 2023
Casa Of The Wilderness Trail Inc KY$334,436 Executive Di $78,854 $98,110 2024
Humanity In Action Inc NY$354,939 Interim Ceo $144,231 $150,933 2024
Women's Resource Center Of Steele MN$355,919 Ex. Director $70,547 $80,728 2024
California Housing Defense Fund CA$331,041 Exec Dir. $134,412 $138,382 2023
Legal Initiatives For Vietnam CA$362,482 President/co-director $30,000 $30,886 2023
Colorado Asian Pacific United CO$323,992 Executive Director $36,978 $41,062 2024
Children's Advocacy Center Of The Big Bend Inc TX$365,005 Ceo $84,636 $98,045 2024
Rockdale Casa Inc GA$320,892 Director $57,000 $64,662 2025
Project 68 Inc FL$312,500 Executive Dir. $37,650 $40,960 2024
Court Appointed Special Advocate MD$307,143 Executive Direc $73,410 $81,828 2023
Chelan- Douglas County Casagal WA$380,005 Executive Dir. $75,450 $78,229 2024
Movement For Justice In El Barrio Inc NY$304,856 Executive Director $128,087 $134,039 2024
Pennsylvania Firearms Association PA$304,421 Executive Director $74,000 $85,461 2024
Metrowest Worker Center Inccasa Do MA$302,640 Executive Director $35,000 $35,485 2025
Naya Action Fund OR$386,896 Executive Director $18,903 $20,929 2023
Father S Group OR$294,383 Ed $83,078 $89,347 2024
Gideons Army Grassroots Army TN$293,442 Executive Dir. $96,000 $113,848 2025
Jefferson Childrens Advocacy Center LA$291,233 Executive Director $1,500 $1,913 2024
Elevate Coweta Students Inc GA$396,025 Executive Di $86,864 $101,147 2024
Carolina For All Education Fou SC$289,237 Director $59,970 $74,593 2023
You Have The Power TN$397,960 Ceo $105,163 $128,015 2024
Colonial Court Appointed Special VA$288,982 Executive Di $79,495 $88,889 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default96th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)97th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted97th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Noelle Hanrahan) 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 69 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (R20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $140,550 is reasonable (approximately the 96th 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.