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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 742854002
NM · NTEE K20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cecilia Rosacker, Executive Director / CEO ($116,090) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 67 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 93rd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

67 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 67 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$49 total compensation of comparable organizations → $151,701 $116,090
$2,30510th
$17,58125th
$50,096Median
$73,73075th
$96,12190th
$116,090This org · 93rd
p10$2,305
p25$17,581
p50$50,096
p75$73,730
p90$96,121
$116,090

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 NM 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
Lamppost Farm OH$411,075 Executive Dir. $59,600 $60,424 2023
Lehi Irrigation Company UT$411,275 President $1,500 $1,427 2024
San Joaquin Valley Quality CA$399,154 Executive V.p. $15,600 $12,894 2023
Altaseads Conservancy Dba CA$398,003 President $41,667 $33,452 2024
Duffee Water Association Inc MS$418,972 President $34,885 $36,124 2024
Associated Water Users Of The Uinta And UT$394,923 River Commissioner $73,000 $69,465 2024
Greensgrow Inc PA$421,347 Executive Director $20,513 $19,581 2023
Ludwig Water Users Association Inc AR$424,372 President $19,200 $20,066 2024
Hope Gardens MI$424,911 Executive Di $65,720 $63,069 2024
Livingston County Farm Bureau IL$390,754 Manager $99,955 $89,010 2025
Harvest Seed Project Foundation TX$390,355 Secretary $11,548 $10,740 2024
East Farm Commercial Fisheries RI$388,202 Executive Director $102,500 $94,080 2023
Pine County Agricultural Society MN$383,025 President $1,200 $1,074 2025
Jk Community Farm VA$382,989 Executive Dir. $84,000 $75,408 2024
Grow Portland OR$381,184 Executive Di $38,834 $33,530 2024
Nordic Mountain Water Inc UT$380,172 President $825 $808 2023
City Fruit WA$376,409 Executive Director (Until 10/2024) $61,873 $51,504 2024
Pacific Nw Csa Coalition OR$371,698 Executive Director $45,626 $39,394 2024
The Cornucopia Project Inc NH$369,577 Executive Director $70,975 $62,731 2023
Pawnee Seed Preservation Society OK$446,909 Executive Director $61,952 $63,425 2024
Houston County Agricultural Society MN$363,282 President $500 $447 2025
Sheep And Goat Validation Of Texas TX$356,980 Director $2,750 $2,633 2023
The Rice Foundation VA$460,703 President/ Ceo Thru 12/15/23 $52,730 $47,337 2024
Food 4 Farmers Inc VT$461,633 Executive Director $81,606 $76,368 2024
Yield Lab Institute MO$353,283 Coo $93,624 $92,196 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NM 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 NM 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 default93rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted94th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted90th

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 (Cecilia Rosacker) 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 13, 2026, comparing compensation against 67 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (K20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $116,090 is reasonable (approximately the 93rd 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 13, 2026.