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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Living Observatory Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 810826003
MA · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christine Hatch, Executive Director / CEO ($42,388) 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 16th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Christine Hatch — reported title “Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable 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

$1,820 total compensation of comparable organizations → $257,575 $42,388
$25,44910th
$51,88125th
$72,653Median
$92,73075th
$105,75090th
$42,388This org · 16th
p10$25,449
p25$51,881
p50$72,653
p75$92,730
p90$105,750
$42,388

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 MA 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
Friends Of The Delaware Canal Inc PA$364,269 Executive Di $81,900 $90,888 2024
Billings Trailnet MT$364,583 Executive Director $75,323 $93,023 2023
Alliance For The Wild Rockies Inc MT$364,633 Executive Director/treasur $105,808 $126,923 2024
Rivanna Conservation Alliance VA$364,992 Executive Director $32,296 $35,726 2023
Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Land & Wate FL$361,353 Executive Director $91,491 $95,646 2024
The Crest OR$360,557 Executive Director $66,333 $68,550 2024
Vibe Tribe Adventures CO$360,098 Ceo $57,791 $63,488 2023
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $77,488 2023
E Inc MA$359,622 Executive Di $58,556 $57,047 2025
Grow Native Massachusetts Inc MA$359,550 Executive Di $111,000 $111,000 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $11,263 2024
Southwest Iowa Nature Trails IA$352,427 Executive Di $18,920 $23,053 2024
For A Better Bayou LA$377,663 Executive Director $84,000 $102,931 2024
Resilience Alliance Inc MA$377,838 Clerk, Treasurer And Ed $11,468 $11,468 2024
Cahaba Riverkeeper Inc AL$378,985 Employee $75,833 $91,168 2024
Friends Of Arches&canyonlands Parks UT$346,985 Executive Di $69,823 $79,525 2024
Species Survival Network MD$346,428 Executive Director $65,232 $67,866 2024
Otsego County Conservation NY$383,328 Executive Dir. $69,904 $70,294 2024
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $81,679 2024
Ocean Futures Society Inc CA$384,635 President $81,210 $80,342 2023
Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Cent MI$343,199 Co-director $75,005 $86,152 2024
Science & Environmental Council Of FL$387,494 Executive Director $24,000 $25,831 2023
Mt Mountain Mamas MT$389,821 Executive Dir. $80,000 $95,965 2024
Community Cloud Forest Conservation MN$390,975 Co-chair $36,241 $39,850 2024
Calhoun County Resource Watch TX$336,943 President $8,700 $9,685 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default16th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted19th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted15th

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 (Christine Hatch) 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 $42,388 is reasonable (approximately the 16th 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.