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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sustain Equity Group

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 850710264
VA · NTEE S01
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kayla Hicks, Executive Director / CEO ($35,460) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 325 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

325 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 325 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $209,605 $35,460
$7,13410th
$17,35625th
$35,460Median
$59,51275th
$83,66290th
$35,460This org · 50th
p10$7,134
p25$17,356
p50$35,460
p75$59,512
p90$83,662
$35,460

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 VA 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
Quality Life Blueprint NC$93,278 Executive Director $31,154 $32,382 2024
Resource Development Center CA$94,200 Board Member $28,932 $25,874 2023
Davis Chamber Of Commerce OK$94,341 Director $37,040 $41,029 2024
Hobart's Run Neighborhood District PA$94,612 Director $17,401 $17,972 2023
Warc Properties Inc NY$94,672 Executive Director/ceo $78,895 $71,718 2024
Escambia County Medical Society FL$92,289 Executive Director $66,000 $62,372 2024
Lincoln Economic Advancement & IL$94,896 Ceo $99,879 $101,697 2023
Washington Contract Firefighters Association WA$92,115 President / Instructor $9,870 $9,152 2023
Mat-su Cabaret Hotel Restaurant AK$92,053 Executive Dir. $39,300 $37,797 2024
Our Village Community Center UT$95,109 President $10,500 $11,130 2023
Gaston Together Communities Of NC$95,306 Executive Di $68,750 $71,462 2024
Sakan Community Resources Inc MN$91,376 Managing Director $70,475 $70,053 2024
Yvonne Perkins Legacy Fund Inc IN$91,002 President And Director $7,923 $8,406 2024
Shreveport Common Inc LA$96,199 Executive Director $60,000 $68,426 2023
Bizworks Enterprise Center VA$90,466 Executive Director $65,048 $61,553 2025
Black Wall Street Chamber Of Commerce OK$96,670 President/ceo $55,666 $71,377 2021
Vergennes Partnership Inc VT$96,959 Executive Director $27,560 $27,905 2024
Ostara OH$90,039 Asst Secretary $37,656 $41,307 2023
Tiuny Holdings Inc NY$89,861 Secretary $32,609 $30,518 2023
Grow Spink Inc SD$89,853 Executive Director $48,000 $54,865 2023
Shorepines Bay Village Properties Inc OR$97,425 President & Ceo $55,400 $51,755 2024
Quad City Painting Industry IA$97,442 Executive Director $4,500 $5,103 2023
Oxford Civic Association PA$97,451 Treasurer $2,618 $2,626 2024
Mid-atlantic Nato Inc MD$97,513 Executive Director $71,874 $65,854 2025
Professional Advocacy Association Of TX$97,675 Sec/exec Director $23,500 $24,346 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA 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 VA 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 default50th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)50th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted62nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted34th

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 (Kayla Hicks) 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 325 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (S), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $35,460 is reasonable (approximately the 50th 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.