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

Seneca Lake Guardian Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 823516124
NY · NTEE C01
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Joseph Campbell, Executive Director / CEO ($26,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 40 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 15th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

40 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 40 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,645 total compensation of comparable organizations → $473,777 $26,000
$15,14410th
$44,38425th
$74,780Median
$102,23675th
$121,57690th
$26,000This org · 15th
p10$15,144
p25$44,384
p50$74,780
p75$102,236
p90$121,576
$26,000

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 NY 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
Paddle For Peace CA$297,088 Ceo $110,000 $102,100 2024
Flathead Lakers Inc MT$291,237 Executive Director $35,025 $40,583 2024
Climate Finance Action Inc MA$305,460 President $29,077 $28,086 2024
Climate Jobs Massachusetts Inc MA$280,619 Executive Director $112,270 $108,444 2024
Purgatoire Watershed Partnership CO$277,444 Executive Di $83,113 $85,665 2024
People Against Litter MS$317,549 Exec Dir $66,678 $79,825 2024
Texas Solar Energy Society Inc TX$318,355 Executive Director $95,461 $102,643 2024
Fossil Free California CA$327,050 Executive Dir. $79,782 $76,239 2023
Pivot Clean Energy Co CO$254,866 President $14,400 $15,280 2023
Caldesal CA$253,796 Executive Di $100,837 $93,595 2024
Vermonters For A Clean Environment Inc VT$252,053 Executive Dir. $50,000 $54,096 2024
Ecological Rights Foundation CA$251,438 Executive Dir. $15,000 $13,923 2024
Georgia Tree Council Inc GA$343,033 Executive Di $72,663 $78,534 2024
Passive House New England Inc MA$249,958 Executive Director $127,975 $123,614 2024
River Keepers ND$249,256 Exec. Dir. $96,768 $114,148 2024
Women For Conservation VA$242,451 Executive Director $48,000 $51,289 2023
Comal County Conservation Alliance Inc TX$237,135 Executive Dir. $62,968 $69,705 2023
Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund OH$228,737 Interim President (Term. 09/22) $8,196 $9,607 2023
Minnesota Conservation Federation MN$228,598 Executive Di $46,500 $49,389 2024
Conservation Alabama AL$365,903 Executive Director $70,990 $82,437 2024
1000 Friends Of Wisconsin WI$220,033 Executive Director $82,527 $95,380 2023
More Action For Regeneration Inc FL$219,764 Treasurer / Executive Director $40,000 $40,391 2024
Whaleman International Ltd HI$211,410 President Director Treasurer $59,750 $57,502 2024
Ashland Climate Collaborative OR$211,127 Executive Director $42,758 $42,681 2024
New Mexico Recycling Coalition NM$209,215 Executive Director $96,382 $114,720 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default15th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)15th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted15th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Joseph Campbell) 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 40 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C01), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $26,000 is reasonable (approximately the 15th 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.