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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Fort Foster Care Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 931409482
GA · NTEE P32
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cara Bowen, Executive Director / CEO ($48,750) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 56 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 32nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

56 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 56 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$712 total compensation of comparable organizations → $177,187 $48,750
$23,71010th
$44,35325th
$57,684Median
$76,47775th
$96,95990th
$48,750This org · 32nd
p10$23,710
p25$44,353
p50$57,684
p75$76,477
p90$96,959
$48,750

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 GA 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
Family And Youth Initiative Inc DC$470,539 Executive Director $65,000 $56,728 2024
Court Appointed Special Advocate Program MD$467,054 Executive Director $766 $712 2024
The Family Room OR$484,261 Executive Director $15,738 $14,965 2023
Nagomi Foster Homes HI$458,650 President, Treasurer, Secr $54,171 $51,696 2022
Aa Swartz Adoption Attorneys And MI$457,230 President $28,915 $29,682 2024
The Deland Receiving Home Inc WI$454,463 Treasurer $23,310 $24,211 2024
Mount Zion Day Care Inc IN$447,751 Executive Director $42,738 $44,824 2024
Choices Network Systems Inc FL$446,975 Vice President / Director $60,831 $56,834 2024
Pathway To Joy Ministries Inc FL$503,828 President $60,000 $56,058 2024
Fostering Family Ministries Inc OH$443,658 Executive Di $56,032 $60,766 2023
Fosterful WA$507,158 Executive Director $85,710 $76,318 2024
A Brighter Childhood Foster CA$507,454 Executive Di $98,135 $86,767 2023
Roots And Wings Inc KS$439,016 Executive Director $65,000 $69,839 2024
Covenant Children's Home Inc FL$438,528 Executive Director $80,000 $76,952 2023
Hunterdon Youth Services Inc NJ$437,926 Chief Executive Officer $65,919 $58,534 2024
Better Choices Inc CA$515,992 Executive Director $50,000 $42,940 2024
Gf Adult Foster Care Homes Inc MI$427,576 President/ceo $87,750 $92,740 2023
Fostering Change For Children Ltd NY$427,029 Ceo&co-founder $144,950 $134,114 2023
Fostering Hope Inc OK$422,956 Executive Director $65,000 $71,183 2024
Hope's Closet Inc OH$529,365 Former Exec $71,624 $75,447 2024
Muslim Foster Care Association MI$413,023 Executive Director $45,777 $48,380 2023
Development Solutions Inc CA$538,153 President $28,601 $24,562 2024
Route 21 WA$402,271 Executive Dir. $142,000 $126,440 2024
Raise Montana MT$402,148 Executive Dir. $19,651 $21,067 2024
Bighouse Inc AL$397,130 Executive Director $44,000 $48,672 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to GA 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 GA 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 default32nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)32nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted32nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted29th

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 (Cara Bowen) 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 56 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (P32), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $48,750 is reasonable (approximately the 32nd 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.