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

Watchfire Media Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 824613302
CA · NTEE A30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Daneen Akers, Executive Director / CEO ($77,200) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 25 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 60th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

25 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 25 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,494 total compensation of comparable organizations → $211,055 $77,200
$20,49910th
$46,15325th
$66,000Median
$86,78375th
$120,75090th
$77,200This org · 60th
p10$20,499
p25$46,153
p50$66,000
p75$86,783
p90$120,750
$77,200

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 CA 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
Technology Broadcasting Corporation MA$188,000 Director $75,955 $81,379 2023
Armando Info Inc FL$213,376 Director And President $22,240 $24,195 2024
Cappies Of The National Capital Area VA$173,867 Program Directo $3,125 $3,494 2024
Ad Relief Of Greater Los Angeles CA$219,800 Exec. Director $62,500 $64,346 2023
Brown Girls Doc Mafia Inc NY$222,011 Founder And Co-executive Director $125,000 $134,672 2023
Alameda Post Inc CA$227,628 President $15,210 $15,210 2024
Headfirst Arts & Media Inc CA$232,602 President & Director $205,000 $211,055 2023
New Perspectives Media Assc SC$238,857 Executive Producer $14,500 $18,035 2023
Soapbox Productions And Organizing IL$243,786 President $45,000 $52,747 2023
Transcendent Media Inc CA$244,431 President $75,100 $77,318 2023
Long Island Coalition For Fair Broadcasting NY$144,168 Executive Director $67,123 $68,432 2025
Third Coast International Audio Festival IL$141,853 Frmr Co-direct. $76,224 $86,783 2024
Reckoning Inc KY$253,107 President Executive Director $66,950 $85,760 2023
Double Portion Media CA$257,101 Ceo $43,600 $43,600 2024
Lexicon Of Sustainability Inc CA$258,554 President $46,153 $46,153 2024
The Pulp MT$260,024 Co-publisher $80,000 $99,867 2024
The Fallon Post NV$260,755 President $40,005 $47,811 2023
Mission Rise Inc CA$265,521 President & Ceo $66,000 $66,000 2024
Fraser Valley Community Media Inc CO$271,734 Executive Director $43,000 $47,750 2024
Asian American Media Inc CA$280,899 President $99,512 $99,512 2024
Feet In 2 Worlds Inc NY$281,470 President $38,640 $40,436 2024
Just Facts Inc TX$282,819 President $133,322 $154,445 2024
Kiowa County Ks Media Center KS$288,920 Creative Director $52,134 $65,225 2024
5 Stone Media MN$291,829 Executive Dir. $84,932 $97,188 2024
Cicero Independiente Nfp IL$292,904 President $60,000 $70,329 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default60th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)76th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted60th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted60th

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 (Daneen Akers) 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 25 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $77,200 is reasonable (approximately the 60th 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.