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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Grand Canyon River Guides Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 860643516
AZ · NTEE C30Z
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lynn Hamilton Non-voting, Executive Director / CEO ($63,954) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 151 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 34th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lynn Hamilton Non-voting — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

151 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 151 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$875 total compensation of comparable organizations → $247,040 $63,954
$26,66410th
$54,14525th
$74,368Median
$91,90975th
$112,10690th
$63,954This org · 34th
p10$26,664
p25$54,145
p50$74,368
p75$91,909
p90$112,106
$63,954

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 AZ 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
Whiteswan Environmental We WA$418,324 Executive Director $92,322 $88,220 2024
Partnership For The National Trails DC$418,939 Executive Director $105,380 $98,698 2024
Clean River Project Inc MA$418,111 President $57,300 $56,580 2023
Upper Peninsula Rc & D MI$416,725 Executive Di $8,293 $9,135 2024
Wachiska Audubon Society Inc NE$421,211 Executive Di $70,404 $80,821 2024
Public Land Solutions UT$422,713 Managing Dir $105,744 $115,512 2024
North Dakota Private Grazing Lands ND$414,512 Past Chairma $22,112 $26,664 2023
Chattanooga Audubon Society TN$411,485 Executive Director $53,385 $59,892 2024
Fox Haven Center Inc MD$410,766 Director Of Operations And $67,332 $67,186 2024
Baduwa't Watershed Council CA$426,600 Board President $55,370 $49,715 2025
Yellow Dog Community And Conservation MT$409,274 Executive Dir $80,315 $92,402 2024
Mclean Game Refuge Inc CT$428,079 President $49,166 $49,202 2024
Fungi Foundation Inc NY$407,817 Chief Executive Director $58,336 $56,262 2024
Friends Of Illinois Nature Preserves IL$405,851 Executive Director $70,000 $73,450 2024
Forests Forever Inc CA$431,470 Ex Dir. & Secre $79,070 $72,873 2024
Gunpowder Riverkeeper Inc MD$431,484 Executive Director $65,721 $65,579 2024
Coral Bay Community Council VI$434,239 Executive Director $83,628 $85,841 2024
Carbon Underground CA$435,291 Director, Strategic Partnerships $59,547 $58,818 2022
Glen Canyon Institute UT$436,232 Executive Di $75,326 $82,284 2024
Coalition For Sonoran Desert Protection AZ$436,402 Executive Dir. $77,915 $79,977 2024
Climate Advocates Voces Unidas TX$437,100 Outgoing Exe $136,379 $141,851 2025
Change Is Simple Inc MA$399,789 Executive Director $75,368 $74,421 2023
Waterkeepers Chesapeake Inc MD$437,762 Executive Director $69,300 $69,150 2024
Department Of Bioregion WA$439,391 Executive Director $49,042 $46,863 2024
Lake Katherine Nature Center And Botanic IL$440,469 Operations Manager $90,177 $97,417 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AZ cost of living and 2025 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 AZ 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 default34th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)34th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted34th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted31st

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 (Lynn Hamilton Non-voting) 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 151 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $63,954 is reasonable (approximately the 34th 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.