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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Border Belt Reporting Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 862548942
NC · NTEE A33
FY ending 2024-03-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Leslie High, Executive Director / CEO ($25,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 31 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 35th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

31 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 31 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,373 total compensation of comparable organizations → $112,960 $25,000
$12,78810th
$17,68625th
$45,247Median
$58,21175th
$76,84490th
$25,000This org · 35th
p10$12,788
p25$17,686
p50$45,247
p75$58,211
p90$76,844
$25,000

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 NC 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
Dialogue Foundation UT$176,457 Trustee $27,500 $27,239 2024
Catamaran Literary Reader CA$178,599 Executive Director $91,952 $76,844 2024
The Codex Foundation CA$180,771 Executive Di $85,500 $71,452 2024
Student Media Corporation KS$163,991 General Manager $46,370 $49,915 2023
Lantern Publishing & Media NY$181,699 President $50,000 $43,727 2024
India Childrens Press CA$183,719 Ceo $55,000 $47,322 2023
Media Ecosystems Analysis MA$184,241 President & $126,160 $112,960 2023
Western States Communication Association MT$187,356 Executive Director $12,500 $13,425 2023
Latin American Perspectives Inc CA$190,599 Vice President $19,875 $16,610 2024
Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation NC$148,687 Accountant $18,000 $18,532 2023
School Science And Mathematics Association OK$148,325 Executive Director $12,000 $12,788 2024
Latinx Kidlit Book Festival Inc NY$146,948 Treasurer $5,000 $4,373 2024
Fellowship For Intentional Community Inc MO$200,800 Manager $19,462 $19,950 2024
The Denver Homeless Voice CO$201,906 Executive Director $56,375 $53,862 2023
Medical Physics Publishing Corporation WI$138,456 General Manager $57,105 $57,718 2024
Targum Publishing Company NJ$209,199 Editor In Chief - Member $10,226 $8,836 2024
Superstars Writing CO$212,953 Member $24,570 $23,475 2023
Inlandia Institute Inc CA$213,419 Executive Director $64,220 $53,669 2024
The Institute For Jewish Research MA$129,559 President $59,500 $51,746 2024
Sustainability Institute Inc VT$216,115 Co-director $87,245 $87,497 2023
Dzanc Books Inc MI$217,668 Editor-in-chief $50,000 $51,422 2023
Chinese Seattle News WA$126,707 President $18,000 $15,195 2025
Owen News Project Inc IN$126,693 President $16,500 $16,840 2024
The Observer IN$227,989 Editor-in-chief $5,396 $5,669 2023
The Land Cle OH$234,577 Executive Director $79,000 $80,979 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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 default35th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)35th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted35th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted35th

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 (Leslie High) 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 31 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $25,000 is reasonable (approximately the 35th 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.