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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Alaska Whale Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 814740105
AK · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Andy Szabo, Executive Director / CEO ($92,083) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 145 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 83rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Andy Szabo — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

145 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 145 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,710 total compensation of comparable organizations → $154,041 $92,083
$23,14510th
$48,72125th
$67,180Median
$85,69175th
$101,76390th
$92,083This org · 83rd
p10$23,145
p25$48,721
p50$67,180
p75$85,691
p90$101,763
$92,083

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 AK 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
Collective Oyster Recycling & CT$332,167 Director $35,962 $35,268 2024
Edenacres Environmental Education OR$333,368 Executive Director $52,768 $51,256 2024
Rendezvous Lands Conservancy WY$334,011 Coo/cfo $20,104 $21,937 2025
Coalition For Susitna Dam Alternatives AK$334,038 Executive Director 1/1/24-7/31/24 $96,688 $96,688 2024
Mahwah Environmental Volunteers NJ$335,230 Executive Dir. $61,660 $57,583 2024
Wildlife Ecology Institute MT$327,259 Executive Dir. $100,039 $112,793 2024
Calhoun County Resource Watch TX$336,943 President $8,700 $9,103 2024
Oahu Agriculture And Conservation Assoc HI$325,224 Executive Dir. $95,881 $89,789 2024
Middlesex Land Trust CT$322,665 Executive Di $66,111 $66,751 2023
Santa Barbara Audubon Society CA$322,002 Executive Dir. $67,866 $59,717 2025
The Susquehanna Greenway Partnershp PA$320,810 Executive Di $76,336 $81,976 2023
Pangeaseed Foundation HI$319,879 Executive Director $77,227 $74,456 2023
Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Cent MI$343,199 Co-director $75,005 $80,977 2024
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $76,772 2024
Species Survival Network MD$346,428 Executive Director $65,232 $63,789 2024
Friends Of Arches&canyonlands Parks UT$346,985 Executive Di $69,823 $74,747 2024
Sustainability Matters Inc VA$311,002 Executive Di $59,155 $61,507 2023
Southwest Iowa Nature Trails IA$352,427 Executive Di $18,920 $21,669 2024
Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation & Development Council NC$310,347 Executive Director $44,122 $47,686 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $10,586 2024
Bucks County Audubon Society PA$309,340 Executive Dir. $67,336 $70,237 2024
South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition CA$304,230 Exec. Director $104,058 $91,563 2025
Vashon-maury Island Nature Center WA$304,220 Science Dire $66,560 $62,331 2024
Grow Native Massachusetts Inc MA$359,550 Executive Di $111,000 $104,332 2024
E Inc MA$359,622 Executive Di $58,556 $53,620 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AK 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 AK 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 default83rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)81st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted81st

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 (Andy Szabo) 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 145 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $92,083 is reasonable (approximately the 83rd 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.