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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Northeast Arkansas Charitable Foundation Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 710713937
AR · NTEE B110
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cindy Gowen, Executive Director / CEO ($5,400) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 152 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 10th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Cindy Gowen — reported title “2901 DOYLE, NEWPORT AR 72112”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

152 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 152 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$595 total compensation of comparable organizations → $474,784 $5,400
$5,64810th
$16,56725th
$37,541Median
$63,31475th
$95,41190th
$5,400This org · 10th
p10$5,648
p25$16,567
p50$37,541
p75$63,314
p90$95,411
$5,400

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 AR 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
Global Risk Management Institute NY$388,639 President $76,312 $63,159 2023
Keya Foundation Llc SD$390,425 Director $57,202 $56,163 2024
Bartholomew Consolidated School IN$391,263 Executive Director $35,000 $33,806 2023
Village Association OR$386,169 Board Member $720 $595 2024
Dolls & Dreams DC$383,183 Executive Director Interim Chair $106,500 $83,143 2024
Friends Of Baystate Academy Charter MA$396,862 President $151,453 $124,655 2023
Forest Hills Foundation For OH$398,447 Executive Di $45,500 $41,768 2025
Midland County Public Library Foundation TX$399,268 Executive Director $91,290 $81,241 2024
Cuny School Of Professional Studies NY$376,120 Interim Dean $146,720 $117,949 2024
Palm Arts Inc CO$402,787 Managing Dir $16,771 $13,938 2025
Aggie Sandstone Foundation UT$375,484 Director & Treasurer $78,986 $70,065 2025
New Century Academy Affiliated Building MN$375,000 Executive Director $9,880 $8,685 2024
Cyberwarrior Foundation Inc MA$404,839 Executive Director $120,193 $98,926 2023
Good Shepherd Mission Network Inc LA$370,465 Chief Executive Officer $16,192 $15,862 2024
St Coletta Of Wisconsin WI$408,422 Director (Thru June 2024) $8,312 $7,723 2024
Fern Creek High School KY$369,368 Chair $18,000 $17,204 2024
Monte Cassino Charitable Trust OK$367,245 Ex-officio Trustee $22,085 $22,274 2023
Friends Of Martin Luther King Jr MA$367,135 President $145,936 $120,114 2023
Robert E And Elizabeth L Kahn NH$366,440 Trustee $156,890 $132,686 2023
Magellan Education Foundation Inc NC$365,340 Secretary $15,529 $14,697 2023
Midlothian Band Boosters TX$361,798 Treasurer $1,200 $1,040 2025
Bms Building Company MN$360,320 Executive Director $8,035 $7,272 2023
The Maggie L Walker Governor's School VA$358,293 Executive Director $85,000 $71,132 2025
Maine Center Ventures ME$357,196 Ceo (Resigned September 2022) $47,244 $43,329 2023
Elevate Atlanta Inc GA$422,818 Executive Director $80,000 $73,675 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AR 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 AR 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 default10th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)7th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted51st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted8th

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 (Cindy Gowen) 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 152 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B11), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $5,400 is reasonable (approximately the 10th 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.