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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

California Ocean Alliance

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813669877
CA · NTEE U21
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kristin Southall, Executive Director / CEO ($17,280) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 113 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 14th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Kristin Southall — reported title “Rotating Member Finance 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

113 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 113 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$439 total compensation of comparable organizations → $339,767 $17,280
$12,49110th
$30,99625th
$60,615Median
$114,05275th
$149,11490th
$17,280This org · 14th
p10$12,491
p25$30,996
p50$60,615
p75$114,052
p90$149,114
$17,280

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 CA 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
Institute For Leadership In Capital Projects TX$267,428 Executive Director $56,905 $65,921 2024
Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation TX$267,106 Ceo $54,904 $63,603 2024
Mining And Minerals Education Foundation AZ$267,071 Exec Director $40,000 $43,402 2025
Climate Law And Policy Project Inc MD$266,745 President/chairman $182,273 $197,346 2024
Nebraska Coalition For Life Saving Cures NE$272,121 Executive Director $99,000 $123,312 2024
Bible Archeology Search And Exploration Foundation CO$263,551 President $20,183 $22,412 2024
Boston Groundwater Trust MA$273,315 Executive Director $126,120 $127,866 2025
Kacyra Family Foundation CA$273,688 Director $26,407 $26,407 2024
Other Internet Research Institute NY$261,816 President $25,346 $27,308 2023
Us Technology Leadership Council VA$261,639 Director And Vp Of Operati $143,000 $159,899 2024
Collaborative Earth Institute CA$261,533 Executive Dir. $23,500 $24,194 2023
Campersand Co NM$260,814 Executive Director $10,000 $12,456 2024
Institute For Workforce Advancement NY$260,315 Director Of Finance $140,724 $147,263 2024
Acpa Foundation IL$277,234 President/chair $35,164 $40,035 2024
White Dwarf Research Corporation CO$258,403 Executive Director $157,711 $175,131 2024
Tecbridge PA$277,315 Executive Director $110,677 $131,593 2023
San Antonio Community Resource Directory TX$279,408 Executive Dir. $45,213 $52,376 2024
Ecological Building Network CA$279,493 Director $39,000 $40,152 2023
Bluechip Ratings Inc DE$255,635 Director, Secretary And Treasurer $25,000 $29,185 2023
Deltaquest Foundation Inc MA$280,722 President And Chief Scientist $335,128 $339,767 2025
Consumer Brands Association Foundation VA$281,213 Acting Ed $66,492 $74,350 2024
Rocks Build America Foundation VA$254,249 Int. Pres. & Ceo (From 10/2024) $59,384 $66,402 2024
Owner-operator Independent Drivers MO$254,002 Director Of Op. $103,395 $130,568 2023
Assoc Of Computer Science Leagues Inc RI$253,725 Preszident $56,000 $60,583 2025
Network Time Foundation Inc OR$283,432 Sec/treas $14,950 $16,078 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default14th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)15th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted10th

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 (Kristin Southall) 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 113 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $17,280 is reasonable (approximately the 14th 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.