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

Scala Foundation A Nj Nonprofit Corporation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813471578
NJ · NTEE P20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Margarita Mooney Clayton, Executive Director / CEO ($81,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 854 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Margarita Mooney Clayton — reported title “Chair”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

854 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 854 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$327 total compensation of comparable organizations → $239,280 $81,500
$13,22810th
$27,76425th
$50,077Median
$75,00075th
$102,21490th
$81,500This org · 81st
p10$13,228
p25$27,764
p50$50,077
p75$75,000
p90$102,214
$81,500

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 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
Never Give Up Never Quit OH$230,250 Ceo $100,000 $118,627 2024
Volunteer Collective CA$230,316 Executive Dir. $83,866 $81,110 2024
Hopester Inc CA$230,347 Ceo $109,704 $106,099 2024
Alliance For Fertility Preservation Inc CA$229,482 Executive Director $84,393 $81,620 2024
Heart Of Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters IA$229,349 Program Director $60,137 $73,749 2024
Unearth And Empower Communitie CA$229,263 Co Exec Direct $17,083 $17,010 2023
Ibew Local 104 Brotherhood Fund MA$229,105 President $78,194 $81,025 2023
Peace Through Action Usa DC$231,415 Director, Secretary, Chief Executive Officer $48,500 $49,077 2023
Hungarian Human Rights Foundation NY$229,030 Executive Director $29,700 $30,059 2024
Designed Future MI$229,002 Executive Di $37,692 $43,574 2024
Ishimwe Center CA$231,617 President & Ceo $21,888 $21,795 2023
The Arc Eau Claire Inc WI$231,652 Executive Di $74,375 $89,567 2023
South City Opportunity Revital TN$228,747 Executive Dir $85,902 $101,132 2024
Your New Best Friend Dog Rescue Inc NJ$231,713 President $10,000 $10,295 2023
Positive Directions Inc KS$231,723 Executive Director $45,077 $54,543 2024
Turkic Foundation Of Brooklyn Inc NY$231,866 President $77,723 $80,986 2023
Jean Kim Foundation For Homeless Education WA$228,556 Secretary $12,600 $14,625 2021
Trap Door Productions IL$228,514 Artistic Director $30,055 $33,094 2024
Continue Mission UT$232,022 Executive Director $55,132 $65,065 2023
Partners For Change Tri-valley CA$228,302 Executive Director $75,827 $73,335 2024
Silicon Valley Security Group CA$232,166 President $5,330 $5,155 2024
Legacy Family Center1099 MN$228,283 Executive Dir. $76,607 $84,782 2024
13thtribeorg CA$232,203 President $75,000 $74,678 2023
Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural MA$227,975 Executive Director $79,603 $80,118 2024
Michael Dukakis Institute Inc MA$232,616 Treasurer $26,000 $26,168 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)85th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted83rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted78th

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 (Margarita Mooney Clayton) 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 854 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (P20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $81,500 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.