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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Conservation Strategy Fund

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 943294843
DC · NTEE C020
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Scott Edwards, Executive Director / CEO ($195,967) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 615 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

615 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 615 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,251 total compensation of comparable organizations → $610,314 $195,967
$77,05910th
$106,97825th
$142,814Median
$194,98075th
$250,77390th
$195,967This org · 75th
p10$77,059
p25$106,978
p50$142,814
p75$194,980
p90$250,773
$195,967

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 DC 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
Astoria Park Conservancy WY$2,832,146 Executive Director $224,597 $266,204 2024
Conservation Minnesota MN$2,831,395 Executive Director $170,504 $191,990 2023
Oregon Desert Land Trust OR$2,832,948 Executive Di $128,635 $136,129 2023
Friends Of The Pittsburgh Urban PA$2,829,997 Executive Director $119,200 $131,574 2024
Ecosystem Services Market Consortium CO$2,834,189 Excutive Director $322,052 $351,907 2023
🔒 610 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 DC cost of living and 2023 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 DC 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)79th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted76th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted72nd

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 615-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 10, 2026.