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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Diploma Equity Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 863315625
MI · NTEE B90
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Doug Ross, Executive Director / CEO ($90,275) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 399 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 53rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Doug Ross — reported title “TREASURER”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

399 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 399 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$431 total compensation of comparable organizations → $303,930 $90,275
$27,64310th
$61,63425th
$86,108Median
$118,49575th
$151,20190th
$90,275This org · 53rd
p10$27,643
p25$61,634
p50$86,108
p75$118,495
p90$151,201
$90,275

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 MI 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
Student1 TX$971,748 President $189,600 $189,175 2023
Dynamo And Dash Charities Inc TX$970,146 Secretary $50,109 $48,562 2024
Project Tomorrow CA$973,229 Chief Executive Officer $188,922 $162,718 2023
Embracing Equity Inc TX$968,674 President & Ceo $261,745 $261,159 2023
Zeno WA$976,140 Past Ex Officio $176,808 $153,364 2024
🔒 394 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 MI 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 MI 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 default53rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)48th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted48th

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 399-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 13, 2026.