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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sustainability And Community Health Initiative

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 853559522
CA · NTEE K40
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michelle Nicolet, Executive Director / CEO ($33,289) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 313 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 29th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Michelle Nicolet — reported title “Treasurer and CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

313 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 313 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$60 total compensation of comparable organizations → $205,632 $33,289
$10,46210th
$28,39625th
$50,719Median
$70,95575th
$95,83190th
$33,289This org · 29th
p10$10,462
p25$28,396
p50$50,719
p75$70,955
p90$95,831
$33,289

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
Northern Stokes Food Pantry Inc NC$228,071 Board Member $3,750 $4,358 2024
Meals On Wheels Of Greater Newburgh Inc NY$228,415 Director (Retired) $19,670 $19,994 2024
Paicines Ranch Learning Center CA$228,466 Director/board $82,725 $82,725 2023
Third Avenue Charitable Organization CA$228,482 Executive Director $37,900 $36,813 2024
Mothers For Mothers Postpartum Justice Project CA$227,724 President $24,000 $23,311 2024
Regenerative Farms Inc MA$228,828 President $80,443 $81,312 2024
Stone Soup UT$228,935 Executive Di $2,500 $2,878 2024
Proctor Farmers Market WA$227,086 Market Manager $68,948 $69,437 2024
Milly's Pantry Inc NY$226,989 Executive Director $54,708 $55,607 2024
Hunger Fighters Oregon OR$229,556 Executive Director $90,428 $94,461 2024
Kettering Back Pack Inc OH$226,497 Executive Director $19,128 $23,462 2023
Save Family Farming WA$229,935 Executive Director (Starting May 2024) $86,548 $87,161 2024
Garfield Community Farm Inc PA$226,257 Executive Director $52,573 $58,974 2024
Advent Hope Ventures Inc NY$226,145 President $30,000 $31,394 2023
Brooklyn Rescue Mission Urban Harvest Center Inc NY$226,034 President $25,000 $26,162 2023
A Best Choice Mobile Ultrasound And VA$225,974 Executive Di $87,300 $97,616 2023
Cultivate Abundance Inc FL$230,805 Executive Di $113,910 $120,370 2024
Cascade Ranch Historic Farm CA$225,000 Secretary & Executive Dire $120,000 $113,553 2025
First Fruits Of The Ridge Inc GA$224,418 Lead Pastor $65,000 $73,516 2024
Sfmv Inc FL$232,360 Market Manager $44,136 $53,987 2021
Indiana Agriculture Nutrient IN$223,658 Executive Director $126,770 $150,377 2024
Northern Colorado Foodshed Project CO$232,647 Executive Director $41,947 $45,244 2024
Families Feeding Hope Foundation OK$223,322 Director $4,255 $5,426 2023
Michigan Ag Council Inc MI$232,961 Excutive Director $29,311 $34,031 2024
Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen Inc PA$233,043 Mission Coordinator $12,000 $13,461 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 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 default29th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)35th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted33rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted27th

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 (Michelle Nicolet) 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 313 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (K), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $33,289 is reasonable (approximately the 29th 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.