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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sugi Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 842041713
CA · NTEE C30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kevin Hill, Executive Director / CEO ($68,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 17 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 53rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

17 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 17 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$6,573 total compensation of comparable organizations → $131,250 $68,000
$14,85910th
$26,51925th
$66,117Median
$83,39375th
$91,55090th
$68,000This org · 53rd
p10$14,859
p25$26,519
p50$66,117
p75$83,393
p90$91,550
$68,000

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 CA 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
Sunflower Star Laboratory CA$299,106 Project Mgr. $26,085 $26,085 2024
South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition CA$304,230 Exec. Director $104,058 $101,376 2025
Project Regeneration CA$279,043 Executive Director $131,250 $131,250 2024
Santa Barbara Audubon Society CA$322,002 Executive Dir. $67,866 $66,117 2025
Friends Of Huddart & Wunderlich Parks CA$260,144 Program Director $75,000 $73,067 2025
Coast Ridge Community Forest CA$258,775 Executive Dir. $16,465 $16,951 2023
Water Climate Trust CA$256,351 Executive Director $81,000 $83,393 2023
The Go Green Initiative Association CA$343,699 Founder And Ceo $85,000 $85,000 2024
City Grazing CA$353,251 Executive Director $11,721 $11,721 2024
Sierra County Land Trust CA$241,176 Secretary/tr $36,000 $36,000 2024
Eel River Recovery Project Inc CA$368,368 Board Chair $78,325 $80,639 2023
The River Project CA$220,622 President $6,384 $6,573 2023
Ocean Futures Society Inc CA$384,635 President $81,210 $83,609 2023
Monterey Audubon Society CA$208,868 Executive Director $27,221 $26,519 2025
Baduwa't Watershed Council CA$426,600 Board President $55,370 $53,943 2025
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $79,070 2024
Carbon Underground CA$435,291 Director, Strategic Partnerships $59,547 $63,819 2022

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default53rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)53rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted53rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted53rd

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 (Kevin Hill) 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 17 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $68,000 is reasonable (approximately the 53rd 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.