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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Firefly Gathering Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 833236808
NC · NTEE C99
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Marissa Percoco, Executive Director / CEO ($24,805) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 34 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 18th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

34 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 34 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$919 total compensation of comparable organizations → $212,344 $24,805
$8,80910th
$32,90325th
$41,815Median
$70,61475th
$108,75290th
$24,805This org · 18th
p10$8,809
p25$32,903
p50$41,815
p75$70,614
p90$108,752
$24,805

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 NC 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
Gorge Rebuild-it Community Project OR$209,834 Vice Chairexecutive Director $76,500 $65,061 2025
American Environmental Health Studies Pr VT$206,502 Director $75,000 $70,963 2024
Assoc Of Us Delegates To The Gulf Of ME$216,510 Executive Director & Counc $73,905 $69,567 2024
Ballard Family Nature Center Inc IL$204,991 Co-director $34,670 $32,987 2023
Rewild Long Island Inc NY$220,764 Director $5,536 $4,702 2024
Mississippis Lower Delta Partnership MS$222,010 Coordinator $66,790 $71,992 2023
Fair Future Movement Inc WI$199,436 Executive Director $30,291 $30,616 2023
Apis Arborea CA$223,552 President $67,670 $56,552 2023
Cultiva International Inc UT$225,527 President $36,000 $35,659 2023
Friends Of Wilmington Parks DE$194,460 Executive Director $45,000 $41,420 2024
Mo Hives Kc MO$230,471 Executive Director $34,900 $34,748 2024
The Ike Foundation NJ$235,402 Trustee $253,000 $212,344 2024
Sovereign Energy NM$238,491 Executive Director $11,538 $12,010 2023
Eastrail Partners WA$240,542 Executive Director $118,483 $102,663 2023
Natural Streams Foundation Inc PA$242,875 President And Ceo $35,069 $32,875 2024
Crawford Stewardship Project Ltd WI$179,146 Treasurer $7,358 $7,437 2023
Otsego County Economic Alliance Inc MI$243,519 Executive Director $90,060 $89,964 2023
Ecological Options Network CA$244,731 President $22,934 $18,616 2024
Friends Of The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge OR$177,564 Executive Director $62,820 $54,840 2024
Coastal Bend Air Quality Partnership TX$174,000 Executive Director $118,429 $111,362 2024
Ohio River Way OH$248,751 Executive Dir. $38,262 $38,095 2024
Cape Coral Remade Inc FL$167,283 Board Secretary $1,041 $919 2024
Live Green Connecticut Inc CT$260,833 President $137,500 $124,771 2023
Pacific Beach Coalition CA$265,137 President $52,000 $42,210 2024
Wilderness Volunteers Giving Something Back AZ$269,117 Executive Director $69,457 $62,793 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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 default18th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)18th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted24th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted18th

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 (Marissa Percoco) 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 34 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $24,805 is reasonable (approximately the 18th 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.