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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Rhododendron Species Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 936033854
WA · NTEE C420
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Steven Hootman, Executive Director / CEO ($149,616) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 585 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Steven Hootman — reported title “EMPLOYEE”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

585 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 585 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,263 total compensation of comparable organizations → $615,865 $149,616
$82,94410th
$112,20725th
$151,541Median
$198,82375th
$254,92090th
$149,616This org · 50th
p10$82,944
p25$112,207
p50$151,541
p75$198,823
p90$254,920
$149,616

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 WA 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
Steep Rock Association Inc CT$3,034,214 Executive Director $111,925 $117,214 2024
Yew Dell Inc KY$3,032,937 Executive Director $203,680 $244,416 2024
Great Smoky Mountains Institute TN$3,043,175 President An $150,938 $177,209 2024
Illinois Environmental Council Education IL$3,032,184 Executive Director $185,181 $203,343 2024
Sharon Land Trust Inc CT$3,043,538 Executive Director $61,802 $64,722 2024
🔒 580 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default50th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)57th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted58th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted46th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 585-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 13, 2026.