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

Carver Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 822022974
MO · NTEE B90
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michelle L Milligan, Executive Director / CEO ($109,995) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 473 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 93rd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Michelle L Milligan — reported title “MANAGING DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

473 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 473 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$10 total compensation of comparable organizations → $412,214 $109,995
$13,95210th
$34,47725th
$55,182Median
$79,97275th
$101,87490th
$109,995This org · 93rd
p10$13,952
p25$34,477
p50$55,182
p75$79,972
p90$101,874
$109,995

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
Watermark Homeschool Enrichment Inc FL$382,427 Director - President $35,000 $30,153 2024
Little Rubies Inc MN$381,588 Director $64,500 $58,448 2024
Virginia Beach Fellows Inc VA$384,280 President/co $76,175 $65,711 2025
Careers Clic NH$384,562 Executive Director $72,942 $61,766 2024
Stream Innovations AL$380,712 Founder - Ceo $70,024 $69,375 2024
Thoreau College Inc WI$380,535 Executive Director $39,500 $37,831 2024
One Spark Foundation Inc CA$385,208 Executive Dir $17,640 $13,969 2024
Girls 4 Science IL$380,207 Excutive Dir/secretary $70,000 $63,111 2024
Roots Connected Inc NY$379,637 Executive Director $122,545 $98,933 2025
Multinational Exchange For Sustainable A CA$386,952 Ceo $84,538 $66,945 2024
Arizona Hispanic School AZ$378,507 Executive Dir. $29,667 $26,165 2024
Knowledge Builders Of Florida Inc FL$387,241 Executive Director $102,312 $90,746 2023
Nashville Technology Council Foundation TN$387,450 Chair, Ntc Pres. & Ceo $12,472 $12,022 2024
A 1 Learning Connections TN$387,481 Executive Director $258,142 $256,188 2023
Let God Help Resources Inc DE$387,505 President $49,628 $44,563 2024
Giant Thinking NY$377,824 Ceo $3,300 $2,734 2024
Drepung Gomang Institute KY$377,648 Executive Director $7,750 $7,636 2024
Ceic Corp IL$388,548 President $34,755 $30,527 2025
Empowering Latina Leadership & Action WA$376,803 Executive Director Board President $68,500 $56,242 2024
Everlasting Education Inc CA$376,802 Board Member/executive Director $75,273 $59,607 2024
Kdo Academy PA$376,266 Board Member $31,139 $27,743 2025
Smoke Signals Community Services In GA$376,143 President $17,525 $16,159 2024
United Sound Inc AZ$389,375 Executive Director $78,300 $67,277 2025
Springfield Education Foundation OR$390,066 Exec. Dir. $77,250 $64,093 2025
Joseph And Edna Josephson Inst Of Ethics CA$374,983 President $129,226 $102,333 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MO cost of living and 2023 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 default93rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)89th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted94th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Michelle L Milligan) 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 10, 2026, comparing compensation against 473 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B90), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $109,995 is reasonable (approximately the 93rd 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 10, 2026.