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

River Of Life School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 820686655
MI · NTEE B20
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mallory Nicholson, Executive Director / CEO ($105,400) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 241 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

241 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 241 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$152 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,986 $105,400
$7,62010th
$20,05025th
$37,702Median
$61,97875th
$83,70790th
$105,400This org · 98th
p10$7,620
p25$20,050
p50$37,702
p75$61,978
p90$83,707
$105,400

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 MI 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
Teach Our Children Fund Inc IN$319,004 Executive Di $60,296 $60,016 2025
Community Resources Inc CO$319,295 Executive Direcotr $88,248 $79,868 2025
Michelle Davis TX$320,000 Ceo $25,421 $25,364 2023
Cohutta Arrows Kingdom Academy GA$317,459 President $19,167 $18,671 2024
Providence Christian Academy PA$321,286 President $44,100 $41,509 2025
Apt Academy OR$323,249 Treasurer $14,200 $12,447 2025
St George Classical Academy Inc MA$323,310 Head Of School $17,308 $15,069 2024
Atlanta Young Singers Of Callanwolde In GA$313,868 Executive Director $50,667 $49,357 2024
Advance Learning Academy GA$313,808 Pres/adminis $23,773 $23,842 2023
Educational Solutions For Children Inc DC$323,995 Executive Director $72,900 $61,978 2024
Five Points Academy CO$324,589 Executive Director $8,072 $7,499 2024
Alpine Valley School CO$311,837 Director $74,603 $69,306 2024
Grace Collaborative Incorporated NY$328,833 President And Ceo $2,900 $2,473 2025
Grande Ronde Academy OR$328,874 Principal $32,218 $28,987 2024
Nci Community Fund Inc TX$329,491 President $16,924 $16,886 2023
Parker Jordan Christian Academy NY$330,984 Executive Director $55,000 $46,909 2025
Chapin Academy SC$331,736 Administrator $34,648 $36,054 2023
La Salle Community Center CA$331,750 Ceo $16,200 $13,553 2024
Stanza Education Corporation CA$332,157 Ceo $1,800 $1,506 2024
Montgomery Area Court Referral Prog AL$305,406 Executive Di $83,404 $87,296 2024
Aukela Unique & Distinguished Scholars Inc FL$332,373 Rodriguez $27,739 $24,596 2025
The Potters House Foundation MI$304,008 Superintendent $11,545 $11,886 2023
Ka Hale O Na Keiki Inc HI$333,803 Executive Di $100,496 $89,745 2023
Little River Community School NY$302,328 President/treasurer $34,330 $29,280 2025
Polska Szkola Im Sw Jana Pawla Ii Inc IL$302,206 Treasurer $1,300 $1,206 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI 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 MI 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 default98th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)96th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted69th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted95th

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 (Mallory Nicholson) 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 241 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $105,400 is reasonable (approximately the 98th 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.