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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Arkansas Council On Economic Education

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 716058254
AR · NTEE O53Z
FY ending 2024-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kathleen Lawson, Executive Director / CEO ($132,802) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 661 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Kathleen Lawson — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

661 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 661 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$246 total compensation of comparable organizations → $530,292 $132,802
$37,16010th
$64,40425th
$85,628Median
$108,64475th
$136,86190th
$132,802This org · 89th
p10$37,160
p25$64,404
p50$85,628
p75$108,644
p90$136,861
$132,802

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
Rock House Kids IL$1,155,812 Executive Di $82,925 $70,658 2025
Central Coast Link CA$1,156,430 Executive Dir. $74,751 $59,120 2023
Albany Police Athletic League Inc NY$1,155,272 Executive Director $118,450 $98,035 2023
Boys Club Of Burkburnett TX$1,154,701 Executive Dir. $72,203 $64,255 2024
Camp Loughridge OK$1,159,649 Executive Di $66,680 $65,321 2024
🔒 656 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted89th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 661-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.