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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Food Alliance

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 911747155
OR · NTEE A33Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Matthew Buck, Executive Director / CEO ($78,378) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 52 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 54th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Matthew Buck — reported title “PAST EXEC. DIR.”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

52 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 52 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,631 total compensation of comparable organizations → $199,954 $78,378
$14,47210th
$40,53025th
$69,649Median
$99,85675th
$123,94290th
$78,378This org · 54th
p10$14,472
p25$40,530
p50$69,649
p75$99,856
p90$123,942
$78,378

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 OR 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
Public Multimedia Inc NJ$326,796 President $112,615 $108,272 2024
Mars Hill Audio Inc VA$323,706 President $129,079 $134,206 2024
Nightboat Books Inc NY$320,727 Executive Director $30,841 $30,896 2023
Providence Foundation VA$332,489 President $92,500 $96,174 2024
In Black Ink MN$319,183 Executive Director $37,606 $41,196 2023
County Economic Research Institute Inc KS$317,331 President $171,880 $199,954 2024
Capital Region Community Media Inc VT$311,307 Editor In Chief $60,584 $65,664 2024
Abba A Womens Resource Center ME$311,069 Executive Director $66,576 $73,907 2023
Skeptic Society CA$309,510 President $143,323 $137,203 2023
Cavankerry Press Ltd NJ$343,702 Executive Director $46,518 $43,571 2025
Carlisle Communications Inc MA$308,493 President $1,731 $1,631 2025
Louisville Story Program KY$345,966 Executive Di $69,960 $80,937 2024
Arcata Press MN$305,326 Executive Director $84,000 $89,378 2024
The562 Network Inc CA$302,316 Founder Editor $68,992 $66,047 2023
The Io Foundation WI$296,207 Secretary/ed $90,687 $99,357 2025
Spectator Publishing Company Inc NY$296,078 Editor In Chief $4,250 $4,135 2024
Ashland News OR$295,181 Executive Editor $54,600 $56,213 2023
Dignity Usa Inc MA$288,091 Executive Di $112,921 $109,268 2024
The Catholic Peace Times Weekly Inc NY$364,450 President $13,850 $13,477 2024
Bellevue Literary Review Inc NY$284,941 Executive Dir. $39,600 $38,533 2024
Preserving Christian Publications NY$370,593 President $24,079 $23,430 2024
American Heritage Education Foundation Inc TX$278,273 President $64,011 $67,173 2025
Oklahoma Media Center Inc OK$272,439 Executive Dir $94,344 $111,867 2024
Southern California Streets Initiative CA$383,198 Director $75,341 $72,124 2023
Gospel Tract Society Inc MO$263,217 President $49,879 $58,568 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR 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 OR 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 default54th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)56th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted52nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted54th

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 (Matthew Buck) 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 52 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $78,378 is reasonable (approximately the 54th 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.