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

The Hardy Plant Society Of Oregon

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 930884453
OR · NTEE C42
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Amy Coulter, Executive Director / CEO ($26,185) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 587 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 17th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

587 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 587 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$555 total compensation of comparable organizations → $444,670 $26,185
$13,11410th
$35,51125th
$61,695Median
$83,73975th
$114,33890th
$26,185This org · 17th
p10$13,114
p25$35,511
p50$61,695
p75$83,739
p90$114,338
$26,185

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
Nevada Preservation Foundation NV$250,283 President $12,375 $13,357 2024
Permaculture Planet Us Ngo Foundation WY$250,000 Executive Director $75,000 $89,035 2023
Colibri Catalyst Inc DC$250,000 Board Chair, Ceo - Gdi $37,814 $35,732 2024
Gari Group Inc NY$250,000 President $9,900 $9,917 2023
Passive House New England Inc MA$249,958 Executive Director $127,975 $123,835 2024
Smithfield Irrigation Company UT$250,811 Trustee $2,000 $2,204 2024
Pudding River Watershed Council OR$250,832 Co-executive Director $62,500 $64,346 2023
Wisconsin Association Of Lakes Inc WI$249,630 Executive Director $71,436 $82,710 2023
Innovators Educational Foundation MO$249,404 President $97,793 $114,830 2023
Federation Of Shade Tree Commissions NJ$251,205 Exec Director $16,000 $15,383 2024
River Keepers ND$249,256 Exec. Dir. $96,768 $114,352 2024
Ecological Rights Foundation CA$251,438 Executive Dir. $15,000 $13,948 2024
Texas Foundation For Innovative TX$251,442 Key Employee $180,000 $193,889 2024
Willowbrook Economic Development IL$249,001 Executive Dir. $92,520 $95,421 2025
We Are Neutral Inc FL$251,714 Executive Director $62,400 $63,123 2024
Ohio River Way OH$248,751 Executive Dir. $38,262 $43,639 2024
Hawaii Seafood Council HI$251,749 Executive Director $51,000 $49,169 2024
Vermonters For A Clean Environment Inc VT$252,053 Executive Dir. $50,000 $54,193 2024
Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance NH$248,360 Executive Di $74,862 $74,435 2024
Justme For Justus ME$252,348 Director $49,244 $53,098 2024
Sandhills Ecological Institute Inc NC$247,747 Secretary/tr $54,079 $60,171 2024
Triple Bottom Line Institute Incorporated FL$252,750 President $78,517 $81,773 2023
Conservation Council For Hawaii HI$247,699 Exectuvie Di $75,000 $72,307 2024
Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation ID$247,600 Member $1,493 $1,761 2023
St Mary's River Watershed Association Inc MD$247,582 Exec. Director $47,400 $47,719 2024

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 default17th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)18th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted19th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted15th

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 (Amy Coulter) 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 587 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (C), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $26,185 is reasonable (approximately the 17th 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.