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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Nola Tree Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 850488807
LA · NTEE C11
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Connie Uddo, Executive Director / CEO ($89,963) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 80th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$17,668 total compensation of comparable organizations → $155,949 $89,963
$25,73710th
$36,58125th
$50,700Median
$54,26475th
$94,57390th
$89,963This org · 80th
p10$25,737
p25$36,581
p50$50,700
p75$54,264
p90$94,573
$89,963

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 LA 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
Iowa Stormwater Education Partnership IA$324,644 Executive Dir. $97,999 $94,651 2024
Western Rivers Forestry OR$330,485 President $56,937 $48,019 2023
Vermont Community Garden Network Inc VT$353,876 Co Executive Director $62,438 $55,436 2024
Friends Of Silver Lake Nature Center PA$270,903 Program Director $32,683 $28,750 2024
Friends Of The Childrens Eternal Rainforest MO$266,547 Executive Director $41,950 $40,351 2023
The Japanese Garden Foundation OR$360,398 Board President $21,568 $17,668 2024
Nashville Parks Foundation TN$366,532 President & Ceo $55,000 $52,503 2023
Norfolk Botanical Garden Foundation VA$232,257 Secretary $183,102 $155,949 2024
Friends Of Dupont Forest NC$227,175 Executive Director $54,723 $51,350 2023
Lightup Lawndale Inc IL$222,475 Board Chair $51,000 $44,228 2024
Friends Of Hog Island Aka Fohi ME$221,442 Executive Director $37,146 $32,810 2024
Bay Area Clean Air Foundation CA$408,967 President $69,702 $53,091 2024
John T Waterhouse Te Co-tr Tropical HI$418,653 Co-trustee $29,184 $23,729 2023
Oyster River Ecology Inc FL$429,245 Executive Director $117,000 $94,455 2025
Alliance For Flushing Meadows Corona NY$435,619 Executive Director $63,607 $50,700 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to LA 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 LA 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 default80th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted80th
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 (Connie Uddo) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C11), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $89,963 is reasonable (approximately the 80th 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.