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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Santa Monica Conservancy

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 753079169
CA · NTEE A80
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kaitlin Drisko, Executive Director / CEO ($94,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 91 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

91 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 91 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$5,774 total compensation of comparable organizations → $292,740 $94,500
$15,95710th
$29,67325th
$52,120Median
$74,92875th
$94,14690th
$94,500This org · 90th
p10$15,957
p25$29,673
p50$52,120
p75$74,928
p90$94,146
$94,500

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
Museum Of Ashe County History Inc NC$184,476 Administrator $36,541 $43,725 2024
Historic Linwood Foundation Inc GA$185,072 Exec Director $37,500 $44,956 2023
Preserve Chattanooga Inc TN$186,750 Executive Director $95,727 $116,528 2024
Gretna Historical Society LA$179,802 Caretaker Assistant $8,470 $11,120 2023
The Locals Inc MN$179,163 President $5,000 $5,891 2023
City Tavern Preservation Foundation DC$178,682 Executive Director $23,333 $24,412 2023
Trust For Architectural Easements DC$189,152 President $77,891 $79,156 2024
Moffett Field Historical Society CA$189,782 Executive Director $46,880 $45,672 2025
North London Mill Preservation Inc CO$176,818 Executive Director $17,493 $19,425 2024
Montana Cowboy Hall Of Fame And Western MT$176,282 Executive Director $30,000 $38,556 2023
Elizabethtown Preservation Associat PA$175,372 Director $30,800 $35,570 2024
The Bernard And Shirley Kinsey Foundation For Arts And Education CA$193,745 Vice President And General Manager $80,000 $80,000 2024
Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association Inc AR$172,408 President $23,000 $29,940 2024
Zachor Holocaust Remembrance Foundation NV$194,631 Trustee $60,077 $71,799 2023
Illinois Labor History Society IL$195,970 Director $40,935 $46,605 2024
Shelby County Historical Society IN$171,028 Executive Dir. $43,269 $52,843 2024
Great Bridge Battlefield VA$169,994 Executive Director $63,907 $73,570 2023
Colorado Freedom Memorial Fndtn CO$167,576 President $45,000 $49,970 2024
Historical Society Of Southern CA$167,089 Executive Director $23,400 $23,400 2024
Sunrise Historic And Prehistoric WY$165,662 Principal In $6,000 $7,441 2024
Florida Trust For Historic Preservation FL$201,911 Ceo & President $109,911 $123,106 2023
Spring Grove Area Historical PA$165,010 Executive Di $57,335 $66,215 2024
Iraq And America Entanglement Documentation Project VA$202,450 Director $13,179 $14,736 2024
Wilsons Creek National Battlefield Foundation MO$162,963 Executive Director $46,230 $56,705 2024
The Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust Inc IN$161,074 Executive Director $90,789 $110,877 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 default90th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)97th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted91st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted87th

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 (Kaitlin Drisko) 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 91 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $94,500 is reasonable (approximately the 90th 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.