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

Sound Learning

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 911518739
WA · NTEE Z99Z
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Shannon Klasell, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 25 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 36th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Shannon Klasell — reported title “Exec. Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

25 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 25 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$6,335 total compensation of comparable organizations → $549,184 $60,000
$18,76110th
$56,33825th
$73,494Median
$94,55075th
$137,16890th
$60,000This org · 36th
p10$18,761
p25$56,338
p50$73,494
p75$94,550
p90$137,168
$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
St Luke Association WA$425,148 President $535,028 $549,184 2024
Earth Ministry WA$411,610 Executive Director $88,665 $93,699 2023
The Hi-liners WA$402,726 Artistic Direct $63,008 $66,585 2023
Lundberg Association WA$454,786 President $535,028 $549,184 2024
Highline Heritage Museum WA$456,861 Executive Director $77,956 $80,019 2024
Kadima WA$388,117 Rabbi $136,763 $144,528 2023
Team Yakima Volleyball WA$461,073 Executive Director $76,928 $78,963 2024
Va'ad Harabanim Of Greater Seattle WA$369,517 Secretary $66,486 $68,245 2024
Friends Of Manito WA$361,004 Executive Dir. $57,692 $59,218 2024
Rural Community Development Resources WA$500,419 Executive Director $114,650 $126,127 2022
Washington Association Of Criminal Defense Lawyers WA$342,213 Executive Director $104,980 $110,940 2023
Living Voices WA$334,859 Artistic Director $60,000 $61,588 2024
Fraternal Order Of Eagles WA$331,795 Secretary $6,578 $6,578 2025
Hough Foundation WA$330,408 Executive Director $84,941 $89,764 2023
Ocean Beach School District Foundation WA$320,849 Administrator $10,200 $10,779 2023
The Master's Mission WA$312,909 President $96,808 $99,369 2024
Salem Arms Community Housing WA$310,832 Executive Director $71,600 $73,494 2024
Rebuilding Together Seattle WA$538,342 Executive Director $92,113 $94,550 2024
Hands For Peacemaking Foundation WA$539,392 Executive Director $29,942 $30,734 2024
Shoreline Public Schools Foundation WA$301,206 Executive Director $40,240 $41,305 2024
Wishing Star Foundation WA$547,234 (Through May 2023), Then Exec Dir $50,459 $53,324 2023
The Bellingham Public School Foundation WA$551,616 Executive Director $53,311 $56,338 2023
Lynn Crest Senior Housing WA$562,741 Executive Director $5,995 $6,335 2023
Slavic International Association WA$283,976 President $57,600 $59,124 2024
Women Helping Women Fund WA$591,124 Executive Director $80,300 $84,859 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA cost of living and 2025 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 default36th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)36th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted48th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted32nd

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 (Shannon Klasell) 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 25 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (Z99) + WA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,000 is reasonable (approximately the 36th 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.