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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Firewheel Stem Institute

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 860922834
AZ · NTEE P30
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Faridodin Lajvardi, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 187 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 24th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Faridodin Lajvardi — reported title “President & CEO”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

187 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 187 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,843 total compensation of comparable organizations → $252,583 $60,000
$36,26810th
$61,69625th
$81,125Median
$107,33975th
$138,92890th
$60,000This org · 24th
p10$36,268
p25$61,696
p50$81,125
p75$107,339
p90$138,928
$60,000

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
District Outreach Industries Nfp IL$577,042 Director $75,306 $79,017 2024
Casa Of South Central Missouri MO$574,672 Executive Director $96,143 $108,685 2024
Project Night Night CA$580,125 Executive Director $126,000 $119,555 2023
Grammy's House NM$580,336 Executive Di $93,245 $107,041 2024
Closegap CA$581,382 President/ceo $150,705 $138,893 2024
🔒 182 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

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 default24th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)26th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted25th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted22nd

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 187-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 10, 2026.