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

Middlesex League Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 832464365
MA · NTEE B80
FY ending 2025-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steve Desy, Executive Director / CEO ($8,502) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 76 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 12th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Steve Desy — reported title “Treasurer”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

76 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 76 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$265 total compensation of comparable organizations → $145,230 $8,502
$7,39410th
$23,33625th
$42,299Median
$67,68275th
$93,75890th
$8,502This org · 12th
p10$7,394
p25$23,336
p50$42,299
p75$67,682
p90$93,758
$8,502

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 MA 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
Neighborhood Youth Services Inc MN$232,008 Executive Di $36,923 $41,675 2024
Certified Student Loan Advisor TX$231,298 Chairman $43,000 $49,133 2024
Nino De La Caridad Inc NY$235,024 Executive Di $23,300 $24,049 2024
Logan City School District UT$230,246 Executive Director $6,530 $7,634 2024
Institute For Democratic Education MS$229,599 Executive Director $114,157 $145,230 2024
Kool Nerd Prep Inc NY$228,353 Executive Director $52,659 $54,353 2024
Parachute Project Inc NY$226,311 Executive Dir. $104,091 $107,441 2024
Thrive Longview Inc TX$241,667 Director $58,191 $66,491 2024
When Girls Get Together Inc IL$223,665 Ex Dir $45,061 $52,097 2023
Always Knocking Inc CA$222,825 Executive Director $27,062 $27,481 2023
The Evolved Network Nfp IL$243,834 Executive Director And President $85,000 $95,453 2024
Young Money Finances MI$244,000 Executive Director $34,000 $41,270 2023
Small Hands On Art WA$244,415 President Director $60,000 $61,361 2024
Asian Student Achievement IL$221,401 President/ceo $29,792 $33,456 2024
Latitude Learning Resources NH$246,741 President $18,650 $19,670 2024
Beta Sigma Phi Charitable Foundation MO$248,195 Director/president $5,018 $6,071 2024
Brooklyn Debate League Inc NY$248,729 Executive Director $89,020 $91,885 2024
Rural Youth Institute ME$215,437 President And Director $45,331 $51,849 2024
Educational Access Group CO$215,225 Director And President $79,875 $85,232 2025
Believe In A Dream Inc IN$251,306 Executive Dir. $56,731 $70,356 2023
Library Of Michigan Foundation MI$212,885 Executive Director/chief Development $99,591 $117,419 2024
Wise Choices For Girls CA$212,769 Executive Director $47,500 $46,852 2024
North Shore Coalition IL$253,489 Executive Director $13,924 $16,099 2023
Oakland Homeschool Music Inc MI$254,609 President / Ceo $14,788 $17,951 2023
B Relyt Organization Inc CA$210,023 Ceo $27,794 $27,414 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA cost of living and 2025 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 MA 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 default12th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted17th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted9th

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 (Steve Desy) 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 76 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $8,502 is reasonable (approximately the 12th 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.