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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Life Align Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 872308614
MI · NTEE F21
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Nick Scharlow, Executive Director / CEO ($102,064) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 48 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Nick Scharlow — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

48 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 48 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$11,430 total compensation of comparable organizations → $178,358 $102,064
$23,70810th
$37,49425th
$54,642Median
$74,67275th
$102,80390th
$102,064This org · 90th
p10$23,708
p25$37,494
p50$54,642
p75$74,672
p90$102,803
$102,064

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
Partnership For A Drug Free Community Inc AL$391,838 Executive Director $59,301 $62,068 2024
Alcap AL$388,306 Executive Director $71,045 $74,360 2024
My Life Foundation Inc MD$385,986 President $32,180 $29,148 2024
What's Important Now Foundation OK$380,972 Executive Director $104,459 $111,439 2024
Communities Confronting Substance Use & NJ$400,942 President $22,846 $20,346 2023
Dream Of Hattiesburg Inc MS$402,862 Excutive Director $84,768 $91,468 2024
Community Prevention Services Inc NC$412,682 President $49,999 $51,531 2023
Columbus County Dream Center Inc NC$364,138 Exe Director $52,010 $52,065 2024
Monroe County Coalition Inc FL$358,422 Executive Di $74,891 $68,162 2024
Operation Snowball Inc IL$355,689 Ceo $32,780 $30,417 2025
Life Challenge International CA$424,816 President $48,000 $40,156 2024
Men Of Pa A HI$429,115 Executive Director $65,000 $56,381 2024
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council Of Delaware NY$430,396 Executive Dir. $48,827 $42,746 2024
Power Forward Inc MA$430,604 Director $42,290 $36,818 2024
Marin Healthy Youth Partnerships CA$347,416 President $91,345 $74,448 2025
Christine Ortoll Recovery FL$346,095 Director/pro $81,555 $79,552 2022
Overton County Anti-drug Coalition Inc TN$344,408 Director $100,053 $101,892 2024
Mountain Top Cares Coalition Inc NY$436,347 Executive Di $88,336 $75,342 2025
Recover Wyoming WY$437,174 Executive Director $71,017 $75,853 2023
Project White Butterfly OH$342,179 Executive Dir. $14,648 $15,031 2024
Palmer Drug Abuse Program Of Lea NM$439,949 Trustee $100,697 $104,930 2024
Uplift Youth Foundation CA$440,987 Executive Director - (Thru 5/2024) $63,497 $53,121 2024
Travis House Inc CO$338,784 Executive Dir. $30,000 $27,870 2024
Come To Him Ministries CA$336,946 President $59,998 $50,194 2024
Influence Foundation Inc VT$333,588 President & Executive Director $115,315 $115,771 2023

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 default90th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)90th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted90th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Nick Scharlow) 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 48 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (F21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $102,064 is reasonable (approximately the 90th 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.