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

Washington Student Association

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 911192925
WA · NTEE B01
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Nancy Canales-montiel, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 60 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 52nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Nancy Canales-montiel — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

60 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 60 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,037 total compensation of comparable organizations → $180,225 $60,000
$21,90110th
$39,15625th
$58,682Median
$92,07775th
$112,57790th
$60,000This org · 52nd
p10$21,901
p25$39,156
p50$58,682
p75$92,077
p90$112,577
$60,000

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 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
South Carolina First Steps SC$247,364 Executive Di $44,313 $51,635 2023
Washington Ethnic Studies Now WA$249,502 Executive Director $150,000 $145,697 2024
South Carolina First Steps To SC$246,903 Executive Di $45,893 $53,476 2023
Northstar Tutoring DC$251,101 Executive Director $119,167 $113,450 2024
Local Learningthe National Network For Folk Arts In Education NY$245,447 Executive Director $50,496 $50,965 2023
Davidsonians For Freedom Of Thought And Discourse SC$243,390 Executive Director $80,937 $94,311 2023
Heart Sense Corporation LA$253,733 President $113,968 $136,147 2024
Cyber Texas Foundation Inc TX$243,071 Executive Director/secretary $20,323 $22,055 2024
Charter Schools Action Fund DC$254,081 Ceo Of Napcs - Until 12/23 $30,188 $28,740 2024
Education Justice Coalition Of Vt VT$254,459 Director $46,202 $51,941 2023
Minnesota Leadership Council On Aging MN$242,300 President $88,000 $91,904 2025
South Carolina First Steps To SC$240,260 Executive Di $21,173 $24,672 2023
Walnut Grove Coop Inc DE$259,090 Chair $35,640 $36,884 2025
Pa Families For Education Choice PA$260,174 President/tr $33,000 $35,702 2024
South Carolina First Steps To SC$260,668 Ed-thru 6/30 $70,246 $81,853 2023
Escucha Mi Voz Iowa IA$234,190 Co-director $49,979 $59,369 2024
R4creating NM$265,057 Executive Di $74,567 $89,579 2023
South Carolina First Steps To SC$265,605 Executive Di $41,509 $48,368 2023
Folk Education Services WA$229,297 Director $21,125 $20,519 2024
South Carolina First Steps To SC$227,937 Ed Through 4 $61,759 $71,964 2023
Awareness Is Prevention Inc NV$270,478 President $13,333 $14,927 2023
Teachers Unite Inc NY$274,686 Co-executive Director $88,095 $88,914 2023
South Carolina First Steps To SC$221,612 Executive Di $57,083 $66,515 2023
Advocates For Womens And Kids Equality TN$275,539 Executive Dir. $73,200 $83,475 2024
Daybreak Arts TN$275,754 Executive Director $50,163 $55,730 2025

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 default52nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)53rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted52nd
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:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Nancy Canales-montiel) 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 60 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B01), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,000 is reasonable (approximately the 52nd 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.