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

Visit Issaquah

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 831461089
WA · NTEE W20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christy Garrard, Executive Director / CEO ($116,700) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 26 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 62nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

26 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 26 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,216 total compensation of comparable organizations → $218,094 $116,700
$27,14210th
$66,66025th
$107,320Median
$129,87675th
$194,63890th
$116,700This org · 62nd
p10$27,142
p25$66,660
p50$107,320
p75$129,876
p90$194,638
$116,700

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 WA 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
Public Service Leadership Academy Inc VA$286,298 Key Employee $69,000 $74,413 2024
Wv Cant Wait Votes A Non-profit Corporation WV$329,916 Cochair $69,471 $86,497 2023
Wisconsin County Forests Association Inc WI$273,826 Executive Director $99,918 $116,553 2024
Guardianship Corp NY$261,698 President $135,000 $136,255 2024
100reporters DC$351,207 President $129,165 $130,340 2023
Northwest Ottawa Recreation Authority MI$352,532 Nora Director $53,734 $60,351 2025
The Transparency Foundation CA$354,319 Ceo $110,000 $109,226 2023
Kentucky County Clerks Association KY$364,818 Executive Dir. $51,865 $64,076 2023
The California Center For Civic CA$238,069 Executive Dir. $115,774 $111,661 2024
Portage Development Board OH$371,014 President $102,636 $121,419 2024
Science Literacy Project OH$232,504 Executive Director $184,356 $218,094 2024
Renew America Together Inc AR$231,584 Executive Director $155,441 $195,155 2024
Decatur Legacy Project Inc GA$374,115 Executive Dir. $74,000 $83,107 2024
Louisiana Partnership For Children And Families LA$225,511 Executive Director $83,250 $105,413 2023
Juvenile Justice Advocates International MN$225,208 Executive Dir. $69,742 $76,971 2024
Government Oversight And Education Inc VA$380,086 Preisdent $180,000 $194,121 2024
Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund MA$383,723 Executive Director $38,401 $38,543 2024
Iowa Municipal Finance Officers Association IA$216,899 President $2,700 $3,216 2025
Democracy 21 Education Fund DC$211,001 President & Ceo $61,849 $60,621 2024
Western States Strategies OR$208,010 Executive Director $15,176 $15,741 2024
Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference HI$203,962 President $122,695 $122,695 2024
To The Village Square Inc FL$422,019 Founder & Ce $85,000 $89,188 2024
Women Winning MN$428,587 Executive Director $160,542 $177,184 2024
California City Management Foundation CA$434,938 Executive Director $129,394 $128,484 2023
Washington Dc Homeland Security DC$446,271 President $196,000 $197,782 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default62nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)65th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted69th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted54th

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 (Christy Garrard) 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 26 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (W20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $116,700 is reasonable (approximately the 62nd 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.