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

Scottish Rite Temple Of Bellingham

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 910952044
WA · NTEE S47
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Donald Higgerson, Executive Director / CEO ($4,950) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 46 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 2nd percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

46 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 46 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,715 total compensation of comparable organizations → $122,951 $4,950
$10,14610th
$17,38425th
$32,785Median
$67,76075th
$94,52890th
$4,950This org · 2nd
p10$10,146
p25$17,384
p50$32,785
p75$67,760
p90$94,528
$4,950

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 WA 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
Muscatine Board Of Realtors Inc IA$130,025 Executive Of $34,820 $41,362 2024
Nwgm Title Holding Company Iii Inc NH$132,850 President $19,521 $19,051 2025
Gada Title Holding Company GA$124,440 Former Officer $56,871 $60,439 2025
Signature Health Re Holdings Inc OH$122,456 President & Ceo $38,800 $44,584 2024
Airconditioning And Refrigeration CA$143,589 Administrator $73,014 $68,400 2024
Dcfof Realty Investment Inc TX$144,421 Executive Dir. $12,988 $14,095 2024
Local 500 Building Corp MD$113,998 President $25,618 $25,984 2024
Puerto Rican Association For Human NJ$146,634 Executive Director/ceo $8,688 $8,416 2024
Crocker Masonic Hall Association CA$146,766 Cfo $11,000 $10,609 2023
Philadelphia Real Estate Council PA$112,046 Chairman And Founder $95,437 $106,302 2023
Dpcr Holding Corporation OH$150,000 Secretary $10,739 $12,704 2023
Laborers District Council Of Mn & Nd MN$151,260 President/business Manager $114,694 $122,951 2024
Turning Lives Around MN$109,125 Chief Executive Officer $41,868 $43,726 2025
145 Hudson Realty Corp CA$108,000 Executive Dir. $33,861 $32,658 2023
Ua Local No 62 Building Corporation CA$107,262 Treasurer/business Manager $125,808 $117,858 2024
Institute Of Real Estate Management MI$154,061 Executive Di $60,756 $68,034 2024
Mwh Holdings Inc CT$105,060 President $63,653 $64,748 2024
Sip Inc IL$104,870 Chief Executive Officer $27,845 $29,699 2024
Littlemore Properties Corporation NE$104,407 President $8,298 $9,683 2024
Sheet Metal Workers Local 58 NY$156,493 Director $56,945 $55,825 2024
Teamsters Local 682 Real Estate Company MO$158,364 President/principal Office $93,107 $106,986 2024
St Elizabeth Development Corporation RI$102,156 President & Ceo $25,026 $26,034 2024
Nnhsc Title Holding Corp IL$102,000 Chief Executive Officer $24,636 $26,276 2024
The Labor Temple Association MN$159,147 President $1,600 $1,715 2024
Cara Holdings Inc CT$100,000 President & Secretary $16,942 $17,234 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA cost of living and 2023 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 WA 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 default2nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)2nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted83rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted0th

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 (Donald Higgerson) 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 46 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (S47), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $4,950 is reasonable (approximately the 2nd 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.