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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Less Death Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 881048004
CA · NTEE U01
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mark Hamalainen, Executive Director / CEO ($34,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 124 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 29th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Mark Hamalainen — reported title “President and Co-Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

124 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 124 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$439 total compensation of comparable organizations → $389,769 $34,000
$12,50810th
$28,83025th
$61,515Median
$117,33475th
$149,87390th
$34,000This org · 29th
p10$12,508
p25$28,830
p50$61,515
p75$117,334
p90$149,873
$34,000

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 CA 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
Cave Research Foundation Inc KY$291,053 President $2,333 $2,903 2024
Akron Fossils And Science Center OH$288,481 Executive Director $40,461 $49,629 2024
Association Of Space Explorers Usa TX$288,370 Executive Director/secreta $109,308 $126,626 2024
Aci Center Of Excellence For Carbon MI$288,265 Secretary/executive Direct $37,064 $44,304 2024
Caf Re Inc MT$293,528 President / Executive Director $8,364 $10,441 2024
Pacific Impact Zone CA$284,456 Executive Director $82,623 $88,551 2022
Network Time Foundation Inc OR$283,432 Sec/treas $14,950 $16,078 2024
Spark Photonics Foundation Inc MA$298,800 Clerk $30,447 $32,621 2023
Consumer Brands Association Foundation VA$281,213 Acting Ed $66,492 $74,350 2024
Deltaquest Foundation Inc MA$280,722 President And Chief Scientist $335,128 $339,767 2025
Ecological Building Network CA$279,493 Director $39,000 $40,152 2023
San Antonio Community Resource Directory TX$279,408 Executive Dir. $45,213 $52,376 2024
Tecbridge PA$277,315 Executive Director $110,677 $131,593 2023
Acpa Foundation IL$277,234 President/chair $35,164 $40,035 2024
Psychological Clinical Science IN$303,240 Executive Director $130,000 $154,671 2025
Kacyra Family Foundation CA$273,688 Director $26,407 $26,407 2024
Boston Groundwater Trust MA$273,315 Executive Director $126,120 $127,866 2025
Nebraska Coalition For Life Saving Cures NE$272,121 Executive Director $99,000 $123,312 2024
Mid-atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory Inc MD$309,847 Executive Director $51,877 $54,719 2025
North American Associates Of The NY$309,994 Executive Di $98,333 $102,902 2024
Peyton's Project TX$312,255 Executive Director $39,240 $45,457 2024
California Ocean Alliance CA$267,850 Rotating Member Finance Director $17,280 $17,280 2024
Institute For Leadership In Capital Projects TX$267,428 Executive Director $56,905 $65,921 2024
Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation TX$267,106 Ceo $54,904 $63,603 2024
Mining And Minerals Education Foundation AZ$267,071 Exec Director $40,000 $43,402 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default29th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted33rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted23rd

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 (Mark Hamalainen) 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 124 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (U), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $34,000 is reasonable (approximately the 29th 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.