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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

With Courage

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841911285
OR · NTEE E86
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Caitlin Sticka, Executive Director / CEO ($66,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 62 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 63rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

62 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 62 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,794 total compensation of comparable organizations → $146,785 $66,500
$28,84010th
$41,06625th
$59,815Median
$77,27575th
$106,29190th
$66,500This org · 63rd
p10$28,840
p25$41,066
p50$59,815
p75$77,275
p90$106,291
$66,500

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 OR 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
Live-evermore Inc DC$257,816 Executive Director $60,000 $58,197 2024
Rx Compassion Inc NY$257,553 Executive Director $101,562 $104,435 2023
South Texas Juvenile Diabetes TX$267,888 Executive Dir. $24,961 $28,413 2023
Sweet Dreams Foundation CA$252,708 Founder $50,000 $47,722 2024
Coalition For Usher Syndrome Research MA$250,204 Executive Director $72,497 $74,135 2023
Courageous Kidz Inc SC$249,512 Executive Director $33,212 $39,429 2023
You Can Be My Angel Foundation IL$275,904 President/chairman $30,078 $32,685 2024
The Caring Community Foundation Inc NC$248,863 Executive Director $97,500 $111,354 2024
Therapeutic Riding Of Tri-cities WA$276,533 Founder/executive Director $56,914 $57,985 2023
Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation Inc NY$277,074 Executive Director $60,671 $60,598 2024
Angel Fund MN$246,041 President $17,500 $19,678 2023
Cocktails & Caregivers Foundation Inc IN$245,064 President/founder $1,495 $1,794 2023
Guardians Of Tomorrow Inc WI$281,706 Pres/treas $31,000 $35,785 2024
State Of Texas Kidney Foundation TX$237,183 Ceo $61,402 $72,760 2022
Martha's Vineyard Foundation Inc FL$289,248 President $34,579 $35,906 2024
Team Tony Cancer Foundation Inc FL$292,794 Executive Director $55,846 $59,701 2023
Unverferth House Inc OH$230,398 Executive Director $59,986 $70,225 2024
West Texas Gifts Of Hope Inc TX$294,869 Executive Director $96,320 $106,497 2024
Strong Like Ak NC$229,278 Executive Director $46,410 $53,004 2024
American Pregnancy Association TX$296,882 Executive Director $36,000 $39,804 2024
Equinoterapia Puerto Rico Inc PR$227,505 Executive Director $37,225 $38,210 2024
Abundant Life AR$299,851 Executive Director $46,661 $57,974 2024
Pink Ribbon Riders MI$225,101 Executive Di $78,520 $87,272 2025
Fisher House Of Grt Cleveland Inc OH$300,450 Secretary And Executive Director $33,654 $40,563 2023
Helping Horse Inc NC$302,116 Executive Director $37,362 $42,671 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR 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 OR 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 default63rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)71st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted65th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted63rd

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 (Caitlin Sticka) 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 62 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (E86), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $66,500 is reasonable (approximately the 63rd 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.