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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Fair Democracy

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 822747849
DC · NTEE R01
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of David Cohen, Executive Director / CEO ($93,063) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 112 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 18th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: David Cohen — reported title “DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT, CO-CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

112 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 112 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,161 total compensation of comparable organizations → $653,113 $93,063
$41,36310th
$150,02125th
$236,798Median
$320,59275th
$403,19690th
$93,063This org · 18th
p10$41,363
p25$150,021
p50$236,798
p75$320,592
p90$403,196
$93,063

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 DC 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
Fair Elections Center DC$9,294,477 President & Ceo $296,554 $296,554 2024
Center For Empowered Politics CA$9,335,040 Executive Director $21,227 $20,888 2024
Every Eligible American DC$9,367,165 Director, President $145,188 $149,476 2023
Cair-foundation Inc DC$9,379,629 Executive Director $272,620 $272,620 2024
Foundation For The Restoration Of America IL$9,428,990 Executive Director(until August 2023) $31,303 $36,106 2023
🔒 107 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to DC 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 DC 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 default18th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted15th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted53rd

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 112-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.