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

Accounting For Sustainability

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 922461963
CA · NTEE C50
FY ending 2024-03-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brad Sparks, Executive Director / CEO ($176,867) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 42 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Brad Sparks — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

42 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 42 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,050 total compensation of comparable organizations → $193,684 $176,867
$21,95510th
$50,27925th
$75,816Median
$114,55975th
$131,24390th
$176,867This org · 98th
p10$21,955
p25$50,279
p50$75,816
p75$114,559
p90$131,243
$176,867

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 CA 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
Scenic Walton Inc FL$322,166 Executive Director $120,705 $131,318 2024
Greenscape Of Jacksonville Inc FL$325,928 Executive Di $85,000 $92,473 2024
Greater Eastover Neighborhood Foundation MS$308,187 Executive Director $63,700 $84,588 2023
San Francisco Beautiful CA$306,005 Executive Dir. $48,449 $48,449 2024
Keep Prince William Beautiful Inc VA$305,840 Executive Dir. $61,365 $70,644 2023
Vermont Green-up Inc VT$302,409 Executive Di $104,230 $125,083 2023
Saratoga County Foundation Inc NY$342,857 Chamber President $35,004 $36,631 2024
Keep Lee County Beautiful Inc FL$294,141 Executive Director $60,160 $67,383 2023
Scenic Houston Inc TX$347,997 Executive Director $167,194 $193,684 2024
Proud Louisiana Llc LA$348,338 Executive Di $32,667 $41,657 2024
Carlsbad Mainstreet Project NM$288,535 Executive Director $57,750 $74,057 2023
Keep Midland Beautiful Inc TX$351,019 Executive Dir. $28,413 $32,915 2024
Keep Toledolucas County OH$279,879 Exec Directo $92,648 $116,997 2023
Keep North Fulton Beautiful Inc GA$360,232 Former Executive Director $85,800 $107,076 2022
Keep Nebraska Beautiful NE$278,359 President $92,600 $118,747 2023
Citizens Caring For Clearlake CA$268,914 President & Ceo $4,050 $4,050 2024
Cuenca Los Ojos AZ$375,552 Executive Director $35,337 $39,357 2024
Next Level Productions And Promotions FL$376,467 President $11,099 $12,432 2023
Keep Alabama Beautiful AL$256,170 Executive Director $41,000 $51,296 2024
Plant It Again CA$391,678 Ceo $82,309 $82,309 2024
Keep Virginia Beautiful VA$245,919 Executive Director $80,000 $89,454 2024
Keep Evansville Beautiful Inc IN$242,493 Past Executive Director $62,047 $75,775 2024
Wyoming Pathways WY$241,814 Executive Director $90,000 $114,904 2023
Scenic Pittsburgh PA$240,966 Executive Director $71,500 $85,012 2023
Clean Fairfax Council VA$399,566 Executive Director $104,213 $113,525 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default98th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted98th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted90th

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 (Brad Sparks) 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 42 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $176,867 is reasonable (approximately the 98th 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.