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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Discovery Pathways

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 850979344
PA · NTEE C60
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Adam Forbes, Executive Director / CEO ($72,021) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 89 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 69th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

89 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 89 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$517 total compensation of comparable organizations → $414,091 $72,021
$20,60210th
$36,92925th
$58,163Median
$76,15075th
$98,15890th
$72,021This org · 69th
p10$20,602
p25$36,929
p50$58,163
p75$76,150
p90$98,158
$72,021

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 PA 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
Prince William Conservation Alliance VA$289,800 Executive Dir. $83,376 $83,111 2023
Imago OH$291,359 Executive Director $33,772 $36,929 2023
M3 Ministries TX$287,081 Board Member, Ceo $78,000 $80,552 2023
Wa-ya Outdoor Institute WA$294,505 Executive Director $61,934 $55,604 2024
Institute For Climate And Peace HI$296,775 President $54,600 $50,467 2023
Community Life Collaborative OH$298,834 Executive Di $80,000 $84,967 2024
Green Cambridge Inc MA$281,267 Executive Director $74,500 $65,402 2025
Devens Eco-efficiency Center Inc MA$300,051 Executive Director $106,037 $93,088 2025
Sustainable Hudson Valley Inc NY$300,863 Executive Director $70,000 $63,429 2024
Ecological Citizen's Project Inc NY$301,612 Co-director $74,360 $69,370 2023
Ivy Creek Foundation Inc VA$304,497 Executive Di $42,419 $42,284 2023
Coral Springs Nature Center & FL$275,781 Executive Di $54,082 $50,947 2024
Friends Of The Owyhee OR$305,136 Executive Director $88,859 $85,193 2023
Olympic Nature Experience WA$307,779 Exec Director $28,628 $25,702 2024
Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center MT$309,188 Trustee And $53,045 $59,032 2023
Harvest Of All First Nations CO$311,307 Chair $60,489 $58,163 2024
Isle Royale Natural History Association MI$267,731 Executive Director $49,907 $53,181 2023
Crowe's Nest Farm Inc TX$317,182 Vice Pres $42,000 $43,374 2023
Health Professionals For A Healthy MN$317,816 Executive Director $72,359 $71,697 2024
Families In Nature TX$319,367 Executive Dir. $88,838 $89,112 2024
Sustainable Contra Costa CA$258,679 Ceo $34,425 $30,689 2023
Life Frames Inc CA$322,566 Executive Dir. $46,170 $41,160 2023
Arctictoday AK$256,031 Editor In Chief, Resigned Feb 2023 $28,846 $28,472 2023
Growing Communities Inc CA$253,966 President $147,531 $131,520 2023
Teens Take On Climate Inc WI$253,820 President $135,499 $141,903 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA 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 PA 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 default69th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)65th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted70th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted66th

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 (Adam Forbes) 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 89 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $72,021 is reasonable (approximately the 69th 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.