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

Harvest Rural Feeding Services Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 932991680
AR · NTEE K30
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lisa Carlson, Executive Director / CEO ($8,550) 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 5th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Lisa Carlson — reported title “OFFICER”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable 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

$2,336 total compensation of comparable organizations → $151,006 $8,550
$11,24210th
$19,48725th
$39,868Median
$47,38975th
$67,37790th
$8,550This org · 5th
p10$11,242
p25$19,487
p50$39,868
p75$47,389
p90$67,377
$8,550

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 AR 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
Dulles South Soup Kitchen Inc VA$162,569 Director $36,000 $31,742 2024
Healthy Kids Katering Service Of Paterson Inc NJ$162,422 Director $12,064 $10,127 2023
Snack In A Backpack Inc GA$165,273 Director $31,763 $29,164 2024
Utah Charities UT$158,774 President $10,400 $9,720 2024
Novick Urban Farm PA$170,617 Project Manager $45,215 $41,175 2024
Hungry Heroes Incorporated SC$171,853 President $61,213 $60,039 2023
Stillwater Mobile Meals Inc OK$172,720 Executive Dir. $44,358 $44,604 2024
Forsyth Backpack Program NC$153,389 Executive Director $18,343 $16,862 2025
Emerge Inc CT$173,477 President $26,250 $21,896 2025
Vittles For Vets VA$175,714 President/director $8,462 $7,461 2024
Community Food Bank IN$149,069 Manager $12,000 $11,556 2024
Gumdrops Nfp IL$148,370 President $31,200 $28,011 2024
Taunton Area Community Table Inc MA$144,909 Director $39,000 $32,948 2023
Hunger Impact Partners MN$184,195 Chief Exec O $167,352 $151,006 2024
Feed Buffalo Inc NY$141,575 Executive Director $74,254 $63,082 2023
Bethany Center OH$186,012 President $40,000 $39,831 2023
Giving In Kindness In Arkansas Inc AR$189,359 President And Director $45,788 $46,999 2024
Cooking For Long Island Veterans NY$190,012 Officer $16,000 $13,203 2024
Germantown Help Inc MD$190,606 Exec Director/ceo $75,734 $66,567 2023
Friday Night Supper Program Inc MA$191,069 Executive Director $59,173 $48,558 2024
Alliance For Better Nutrition Inc IN$132,378 President/se $44,735 $43,080 2024
Gorham Ecumenical Food Pantry ME$196,126 Executive Director $13,500 $12,709 2023
East Kentucky Dream Center Inc KY$197,997 Director $28,229 $27,695 2024
Community Markets Inc WV$204,602 Operations Manager $47,259 $46,726 2024
Soup For The Soul Org Inc KY$204,886 Program Manager $42,952 $43,385 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AR cost of living and 2025 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 AR 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 default5th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)5th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted9th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted5th

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 (Lisa Carlson) 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 (K30), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $8,550 is reasonable (approximately the 5th 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.