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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Colorado Native Plant Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 840734596
CO · NTEE C300
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Maggie Gaddis, Executive Director / CEO ($60,962) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 116 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 49th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

116 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 116 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,656 total compensation of comparable organizations → $161,073 $60,962
$15,99710th
$34,00225th
$61,381Median
$79,78275th
$94,22990th
$60,962This org · 49th
p10$15,997
p25$34,002
p50$61,381
p75$79,782
p90$94,229
$60,962

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 CO 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
Methow Valley Trails Collaborative WA$244,446 Executive Director $51,076 $46,322 2024
Indigenous Peoples Council For AK$244,580 Executive Dir. $57,830 $56,005 2024
Action Center Inc PA$242,260 Executive Director $58,933 $61,290 2023
Friends Of The Mariana Trench MP$245,976 Executive Dir. $45,866 $44,550 2024
Sierra County Land Trust CA$241,176 Secretary/tr $36,000 $31,489 2024
Transformers Foundation Inc NY$246,889 Executive Director $20,000 $18,307 2024
Iowa Interfaith Power And Light IA$247,131 Exe Director $76,354 $84,686 2024
Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation ID$247,600 Member $1,493 $1,656 2023
Conservation Council For Hawaii HI$247,699 Exectuvie Di $75,000 $68,018 2024
Missouri State Parks Foundation Inc MO$240,020 Executive Director $75,460 $80,960 2024
Green Mountain Conservation Group NH$239,655 Executive Director $71,725 $69,069 2023
Willowbrook Economic Development IL$249,001 Executive Dir. $92,520 $89,762 2025
Wisconsin Association Of Lakes Inc WI$249,630 Executive Director $71,436 $77,805 2023
Nevada Preservation Foundation NV$250,283 President $12,375 $12,565 2024
People And Pollinators Action CO$253,840 Executive Di $63,585 $61,761 2024
Communitopia PA$233,566 Executive Dir. $60,853 $61,471 2024
Lake Erie Islands Conservancy OH$255,106 Chair $16,000 $17,166 2024
Harris Ranch Wildlife Mitigation Association Inc ID$256,059 Conservation Director $53,856 $58,034 2024
Passivhausmaine ME$231,619 Executive Director $72,995 $76,228 2023
Water Climate Trust CA$256,351 Executive Director $81,000 $72,943 2023
Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center I NY$231,005 President/founder $92,223 $90,472 2022
Coast Ridge Community Forest CA$258,775 Executive Dir. $16,465 $14,827 2023
Bull Run Mountains Conservancy Inc VA$228,778 Executive Director $127,013 $121,024 2025
Bear Lake Watch UT$259,252 Past Exec. Dir. $37,912 $40,466 2023
Friends Of Huddart & Wunderlich Parks CA$260,144 Program Director $75,000 $63,911 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 CO 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 default49th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)48th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted51st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted47th

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 (Maggie Gaddis) 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 116 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,962 is reasonable (approximately the 49th 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.