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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Montana Conservation Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 921136799
MT · NTEE C99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rob Arnaud, Executive Director / CEO ($110,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 48 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Rob Arnaud — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

48 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 48 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,406 total compensation of comparable organizations → $244,838 $110,000
$16,16510th
$31,88625th
$47,229Median
$83,29775th
$103,54390th
$110,000This org · 92nd
p10$16,165
p25$31,886
p50$47,229
p75$83,297
p90$103,543
$110,000

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 MT 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
Bee The World Corp TX$280,446 President $2,593 $2,406 2024
808 Cleanups HI$278,781 Executive Director $43,200 $35,881 2024
Citizens For Nuclear Technology Awareness SC$296,011 Current Exec Dir $62,750 $60,730 2024
Portland Harbor Community Coalition OR$300,429 Executive Director $45,224 $40,112 2023
African Hope Fund Inc CA$300,697 Operations Manager $35,500 $28,438 2024
Wilderness Volunteers Giving Something Back AZ$269,117 Executive Director $69,457 $61,969 2024
Wilderness Louisville Inc KY$302,359 Executive Director $91,749 $91,445 2024
The Resource Exchange PA$303,956 Executive Director Ceo $47,168 $43,636 2024
Pacific Beach Coalition CA$265,137 President $52,000 $41,655 2024
Live Green Connecticut Inc CT$260,833 President $137,500 $123,132 2023
Ohio River Way OH$248,751 Executive Dir. $38,262 $37,595 2024
Ecological Options Network CA$244,731 President $22,934 $18,372 2024
Otsego County Economic Alliance Inc MI$243,519 Executive Director $90,060 $88,783 2023
Natural Streams Foundation Inc PA$242,875 President And Ceo $35,069 $32,443 2024
Eastrail Partners WA$240,542 Executive Director $118,483 $101,316 2023
The Houston Parks Board Foundation TX$331,722 Hpb President & Ceo $29,230 $27,125 2024
Sovereign Energy NM$238,491 Executive Director $11,538 $11,853 2023
The Ike Foundation NJ$235,402 Trustee $253,000 $209,556 2024
Valley Advocates For ID$339,513 Executive Di $102,141 $100,800 2024
Mo Hives Kc MO$230,471 Executive Director $34,900 $34,292 2024
Bethesda Green Inc MD$341,433 Executive Director $119,508 $103,650 2024
Grand Island Area Clean Community NE$343,860 Executive Di $81,649 $81,468 2024
Cultiva International Inc UT$225,527 President $36,000 $35,190 2023
Apis Arborea CA$223,552 President $67,670 $55,809 2023
Mississippis Lower Delta Partnership MS$222,010 Coordinator $66,790 $71,047 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT 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 MT 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 default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)83rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted94th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Rob Arnaud) 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 48 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $110,000 is reasonable (approximately the 92nd 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.