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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Billings Trailnet

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 810538394
MT · NTEE C30
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kristi Drake, Executive Director / CEO ($75,323) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 146 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

146 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 146 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,473 total compensation of comparable organizations → $208,565 $75,323
$20,60710th
$41,64725th
$58,127Median
$75,08575th
$85,62890th
$75,323This org · 75th
p10$20,607
p25$41,647
p50$58,127
p75$75,085
p90$85,628
$75,323

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 MT 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
Alliance For The Wild Rockies Inc MT$364,633 Executive Director/treasur $105,808 $102,772 2024
Friends Of The Delaware Canal Inc PA$364,269 Executive Di $81,900 $73,594 2024
Rivanna Conservation Alliance VA$364,992 Executive Director $32,296 $28,928 2023
Living Observatory Inc MA$364,058 Director $42,388 $34,323 2024
Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Land & Wate FL$361,353 Executive Director $91,491 $77,447 2024
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $62,743 2023
The Crest OR$360,557 Executive Director $66,333 $55,507 2024
Vibe Tribe Adventures CO$360,098 Ceo $57,791 $51,408 2023
E Inc MA$359,622 Executive Di $58,556 $46,192 2025
Grow Native Massachusetts Inc MA$359,550 Executive Di $111,000 $89,879 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $9,120 2024
Southwest Iowa Nature Trails IA$352,427 Executive Di $18,920 $18,667 2024
For A Better Bayou LA$377,663 Executive Director $84,000 $83,346 2024
Resilience Alliance Inc MA$377,838 Clerk, Treasurer And Ed $11,468 $9,286 2024
Cahaba Riverkeeper Inc AL$378,985 Employee $75,833 $73,821 2024
Friends Of Arches&canyonlands Parks UT$346,985 Executive Di $69,823 $64,393 2024
Species Survival Network MD$346,428 Executive Director $65,232 $54,953 2024
Otsego County Conservation NY$383,328 Executive Dir. $69,904 $56,918 2024
Ocean Futures Society Inc CA$384,635 President $81,210 $65,055 2023
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $66,137 2024
Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Cent MI$343,199 Co-director $75,005 $69,759 2024
Science & Environmental Council Of FL$387,494 Executive Director $24,000 $20,916 2023
Mt Mountain Mamas MT$389,821 Executive Dir. $80,000 $77,705 2024
Community Cloud Forest Conservation MN$390,975 Co-chair $36,241 $32,268 2024
Calhoun County Resource Watch TX$336,943 President $8,700 $7,841 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT cost of living and 2023 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 MT 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)60th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted73rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted72nd

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 (Kristi Drake) 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 146 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $75,323 is reasonable (approximately the 75th 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.