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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Santa Fe Institute

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 850325494
NM · NTEE U200
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of David Krakauer, Executive Director / CEO ($472,082) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 26 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 46th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

26 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 26 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$38,761 total compensation of comparable organizations → $1,250,220 $472,082
$196,46310th
$380,02725th
$501,103Median
$592,65575th
$851,40090th
$472,082This org · 46th
p10$196,463
p25$380,027
p50$501,103
p75$592,655
p90$851,400
$472,082

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 NM 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
Hugo W Moser Research Institute At MD$51,746,241 President & Ceo $161,191 $144,251 2023
Hudson-alpha Institute For AL$52,208,987 President $394,840 $396,595 2024
American Society For Microbiology DC$51,295,584 Chief Executive Officer $939,765 $766,740 2024
American Society Of Civil Engineers VA$53,023,061 Executive Director $594,558 $533,744 2024
Southern Research Institute AL$50,381,130 President And Ceo (Thru 12/24) $445,261 $447,240 2024
🔒 21 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NM 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 NM 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 default46th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)38th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted46th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted42nd

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 26-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.