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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Chispa Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 811094634
MO · NTEE Q30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sara Burkes Brakhane, Executive Director / CEO ($52,100) 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 46th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Sara Burkes Brakhane — 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

$1,855 total compensation of comparable organizations → $217,510 $52,100
$14,35010th
$29,46325th
$55,053Median
$80,43475th
$97,93690th
$52,100This org · 46th
p10$14,350
p25$29,463
p50$55,053
p75$80,434
p90$97,936
$52,100

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 MO 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
Make A Difference Inc ID$400,047 Executive Director $90,579 $88,630 2025
Global Healing CA$402,627 Executive Dir. $115,200 $96,694 2023
God's Littlest Angels Inc CO$402,671 President $19,387 $17,552 2024
Hands Offering Hope Foundation Inc CT$406,415 President $19,500 $17,262 2024
Haki Community Organization OR$393,756 President $127,260 $114,876 2023
American Friends Of The Bambi Homes Colombia NY$393,535 Board Member $19,500 $17,128 2023
Franciscan Family Apostolate Inc CT$392,339 President $35,000 $30,984 2024
Reformation Hope Inc GA$392,259 Executive Director $79,145 $75,135 2024
Acts 29 Ministries Inc OH$392,005 President $25,575 $25,575 2024
African Christian Schools Foundation TN$391,934 Executive Director $80,000 $81,740 2023
Links International TX$391,681 President $31,800 $30,920 2023
Human Rights For Kids DC$391,520 Ceo $125,000 $103,565 2024
Charlies Lunch Ministries TX$391,005 Vice President $65,315 $61,686 2024
Village Earth CO$409,567 Executive Director $85,978 $80,138 2023
Fountains Of Hope International Inc IN$390,209 Executive Dir. $74,627 $74,303 2024
Red Rhino Orphanage Project CA$387,749 Exec. Director $60,000 $48,917 2024
Rostropovich-vishnevskaya Foundation DC$387,111 Executive Director $262,528 $217,510 2024
Vision Health International CO$413,232 Executive Di $21,180 $19,175 2024
Zara Initiative CA$387,011 Secretary Director Onsite Director $19,000 $15,490 2024
Mayan Hands Foundation Ltd NY$386,658 Executive Director $60,000 $51,190 2024
Rise Beyond The Reef WA$414,355 Founder Exec Director $62,177 $52,558 2024
Vision For The Poor PA$382,721 Exec. Dir/pres $14,400 $13,209 2025
Arlene Campbell Humanitarian Foundation TX$380,640 President $3,140 $2,966 2024
Enchanted Peach Children's Foundation GA$380,018 Executive Director $75,000 $71,200 2024
Global Seed Planters MN$378,056 President $54,467 $52,315 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MO 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 MO 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 default46th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)43rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted48th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted45th

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 (Sara Burkes Brakhane) 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 (Q30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $52,100 is reasonable (approximately the 46th 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.