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

Financial Wellness Institute Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 753109240
NJ · NTEE B60
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Wanda Hardy, Executive Director / CEO ($165,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 56 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Wanda Hardy — reported title “CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

56 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 56 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$290 total compensation of comparable organizations → $150,213 $165,000
$10,58810th
$27,75125th
$48,070Median
$79,77175th
$97,31190th
$165,000This org · 100th
p10$10,588
p25$27,751
p50$48,070
p75$79,771
p90$97,311
$165,000

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 NJ 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
Christian Heritage Home WA$149,107 Director $30,000 $30,083 2024
Wyoming Family Home Ownership WY$151,400 Prior Exec D $81,474 $97,715 2024
Effective Management Association Corp IL$146,424 Past Board Member $59,255 $67,173 2023
Balanced Rock Foundation CA$153,486 Executive Director $81,638 $81,287 2023
Sewanee Church Music Conference AL$146,071 Conference Director $3,000 $3,738 2023
Khatib Bridge And Education Of Palm City Inc FL$145,880 Manager $10,000 $10,832 2023
Houston Taiwan Institute Of Senior TX$154,911 President $30,107 $33,731 2024
German Laguage School Of Naper IL$156,641 Chair Of The B $26,920 $29,642 2024
Iowa Civil Justice Foundation IA$157,676 Executive Director $122,488 $150,213 2024
Western Institute Of Legal Medicine CA$162,345 President $47,500 $47,296 2023
Center For Arts Design And Social MA$135,560 Executive Director $89,581 $92,824 2023
Institute For Advertising Ethics NY$165,475 President $125,000 $130,247 2023
Vermont Federation Of Sportsmen's VT$132,930 President $30,000 $33,820 2024
National African-american Women's Leadership Institute TX$131,195 Executive Director $36,458 $40,846 2024
The Meadows Of Northern Arizona Inc AZ$169,304 London $42,271 $45,532 2024
Professional Learning Us Inc NY$173,772 Chief Executive $40,000 $40,483 2024
The S E L F Help Foundation Inc NY$176,289 President/cob $58,000 $60,434 2023
Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Assoc CO$122,850 Director $61,215 $65,743 2024
Gestalt Therapy Institute Of The CA$179,113 President $300 $290 2024
National Foundation For Judicial Excelle IL$179,322 Secretary-treasurer $23,000 $25,326 2024
Minne MN$182,257 Executive Director Beginning July $56,731 $64,639 2023
Opportunity Thrive Inc MI$183,212 Executive Di $56,650 $65,490 2024
Dc Creative Writing Workshop Inc DC$183,216 Executive Di $81,033 $79,643 2024
Nevada Christian Institute NV$115,276 Secretary $10,500 $11,788 2024
Arts As Healing Foundation MO$185,399 Executive Director $60,833 $72,165 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NJ 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 NJ 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 default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted95th

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 (Wanda Hardy) 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 56 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $165,000 is reasonable (approximately the 100th 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.