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

Children's Rocky Mountain School Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841466269
CO · NTEE B21
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brigitte Buckingham, Executive Director / CEO ($65,341) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 281 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

281 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 281 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$361 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,481 $65,341
$16,22510th
$34,05425th
$46,511Median
$61,09175th
$76,55290th
$65,341This org · 81st
p10$16,225
p25$34,054
p50$46,511
p75$61,091
p90$76,552
$65,341

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
Suburban Nursery School Inc MD$328,391 Teacher $36,658 $36,797 2023
School Of The Beartooths MT$328,664 Executive Director $52,082 $60,278 2023
Community Farm School Inc MA$327,842 Clerk $24,576 $23,031 2024
Gazelle Creative Learning School CA$329,372 President $102,550 $92,350 2024
Dayspring Childrens Center OH$329,522 President $84,600 $91,038 2025
Altadena Nursery School Inc CA$326,868 Director $47,895 $42,019 2025
East End Preschool TX$330,142 Director $44,520 $45,246 2025
St Thomas Day School Inc GA$331,192 Director $35,271 $36,032 2025
Little Disciples Learning Center OH$331,624 Director/pre $77,780 $85,914 2024
Trinity Preschool Inc MN$324,730 Executive Dir. $74,000 $74,291 2025
Miss Ruby's Kids SC$332,288 Executive Director $72,397 $76,737 2025
Mid-mitten Montessori MI$333,251 Ex Officio $44,444 $47,841 2024
Peace Unlimited Corporation NY$322,834 President/director $53,404 $51,813 2023
Kidz R Us Too IA$334,845 Secretarydirector $50,700 $57,894 2024
Morning Glory Enterprises CA$321,433 Ceo Member At Large $75,604 $68,084 2024
Sunshine And Rainbows Early TX$336,330 Director $35,770 $36,354 2025
The Children's Farm Inc MN$320,352 President $13,200 $13,252 2025
Love And Learn Preschool Inc NJ$318,739 Director $38,896 $36,217 2024
Chenango Valley Nursery Inc NY$338,231 Executive Dir. $49,509 $45,454 2025
The Learning Nest Cincinnati OH$318,257 Director President $35,000 $38,660 2024
Lord Of Life Christian Preschool OH$318,105 Education Director $41,886 $47,633 2023
Childrens Genesis Inc TX$316,975 President $40,014 $41,743 2024
Berkeley Hills Parents Association CA$340,360 Exec. Direct $77,439 $69,736 2024
Creative Play Children's Learning FL$341,063 Director $49,252 $49,678 2023
Mtvc Inc MD$315,504 President $8,300 $8,331 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted81st

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 (Brigitte Buckingham) 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 281 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $65,341 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.