Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Saving Our Sharks Foundation Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 870921468
PA · NTEE D30
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jose Manuel Rojas, Executive Director / CEO ($13,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 29 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 21st percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

29 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 29 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,516 total compensation of comparable organizations → $107,379 $13,500
$9,58910th
$18,43525th
$35,186Median
$61,15075th
$78,53290th
$13,500This org · 21st
p10$9,589
p25$18,435
p50$35,186
p75$61,150
p90$78,532
$13,500

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 PA 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
Southeast Alaska Indiginous Transboundary Commissi AK$193,997 Director $50,717 $50,059 2023
Animal Services Of Richmond Inc VA$193,278 President $60,195 $62,464 2022
Marine Education Research And Rehab DE$205,183 Executive Di $84,000 $82,477 2024
Minnesota Conservation Officers Association MN$208,894 President $18,605 $18,435 2024
South Carolina Wildlife Partnership SC$210,253 Executive Director $85,116 $91,673 2023
Merritt Island Wildlife FL$214,153 Executive Di $1,609 $1,516 2024
Foundation For North American Wild MT$215,222 Executive Di $25,002 $27,823 2023
Operation Game Thief Inc TX$178,259 Executive Director $71,801 $74,150 2023
Wildlife Restoration Foundation VA$219,834 President And Board Member $41,760 $40,433 2024
Mountain Top Wildlife WA$220,300 President $22,600 $20,290 2024
Illinois Raptor Center IL$223,801 Program Dir $43,116 $43,762 2023
A Place Called Hope Inc CT$169,929 President $36,000 $33,848 2024
Harmony Wildlife Rehabilitation TN$229,761 President $6,056 $6,383 2024
Arctic Fox Daily Wildlife Rescue Inc NY$230,049 President $13,500 $12,233 2024
Amargosa Land Trust CA$230,137 Executive Director $83,615 $74,541 2023
Shark Team One Corp FL$164,046 Director $18,720 $18,156 2023
Msrw MI$231,175 Executive Director $33,020 $35,186 2023
North Dakota Wildlife Federation ND$231,568 Executive Director $70,467 $77,546 2024
Endangered Species Protection Agency UT$154,000 General Manager $12,000 $12,316 2024
Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network SC$243,982 President $60,000 $61,150 2025
Izaak Walton League Of America Inc IN$245,211 Recording Se $17,935 $19,526 2023
Keeper Of The Wild Wildlife Re SC$254,651 Center Mgr $25,988 $27,990 2023
Beavers Northwest WA$264,826 Executive Director $65,006 $60,085 2023
Cougar Fund Inc WY$269,890 Managing Director $100,000 $107,379 2024
Last Chance Forever TX$271,565 Director $30,004 $30,097 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA 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 PA 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 default21st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)17th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted21st

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 (Jose Manuel Rojas) 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 29 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (D30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $13,500 is reasonable (approximately the 21st 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.