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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Soapbox Productions And Organizing

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 824144067
IL · NTEE A30
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Caullen Hudson, Executive Director / CEO ($45,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 45 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 33rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

45 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 45 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,981 total compensation of comparable organizations → $180,058 $45,000
$22,03410th
$39,37525th
$60,000Median
$84,22775th
$104,92190th
$45,000This org · 33rd
p10$22,034
p25$39,375
p50$60,000
p75$84,227
p90$104,921
$45,000

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 IL 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
Transcendent Media Inc CA$244,431 President $75,100 $65,963 2023
New Perspectives Media Assc SC$238,857 Executive Producer $14,500 $15,387 2023
Reckoning Inc KY$253,107 President Executive Director $66,950 $73,164 2023
Headfirst Arts & Media Inc CA$232,602 President & Director $205,000 $180,058 2023
Double Portion Media CA$257,101 Ceo $43,600 $37,196 2024
Lexicon Of Sustainability Inc CA$258,554 President $46,153 $39,375 2024
Alameda Post Inc CA$227,628 President $15,210 $12,976 2024
The Pulp MT$260,024 Co-publisher $80,000 $85,200 2024
The Fallon Post NV$260,755 President $40,005 $40,789 2023
Mission Rise Inc CA$265,521 President & Ceo $66,000 $56,306 2024
Brown Girls Doc Mafia Inc NY$222,011 Founder And Co-executive Director $125,000 $114,893 2023
Ad Relief Of Greater Los Angeles CA$219,800 Exec. Director $62,500 $54,896 2023
Fraser Valley Community Media Inc CO$271,734 Executive Director $43,000 $40,736 2024
Armando Info Inc FL$213,376 Director And President $22,240 $20,642 2024
Asian American Media Inc CA$280,899 President $99,512 $84,897 2024
Feet In 2 Worlds Inc NY$281,470 President $38,640 $34,496 2024
Just Facts Inc TX$282,819 President $133,322 $131,762 2024
Kiowa County Ks Media Center KS$288,920 Creative Director $52,134 $55,646 2024
Watchfire Media Inc CA$195,922 Executive Director $77,200 $65,862 2024
5 Stone Media MN$291,829 Executive Dir. $84,932 $82,914 2024
Cicero Independiente Nfp IL$292,904 President $60,000 $60,000 2023
The Record Community News Group IL$298,634 Treasurer $86,961 $84,466 2024
Technology Broadcasting Corporation MA$188,000 Director $75,955 $69,427 2023
Granite State News Collaborative NH$302,569 Executive Director $40,831 $37,250 2024
Unicorn Riot MN$303,413 Board Chair $79,712 $77,818 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL 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 IL 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 default33rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)33rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted36th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted33rd

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 (Caullen Hudson) 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 45 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $45,000 is reasonable (approximately the 33rd 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.