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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Outdoor Circle

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 990085044
HI · NTEE C60Z
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Winston Welch, Executive Director / CEO ($122,049) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 103 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

103 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 103 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$576 total compensation of comparable organizations → $967,969 $122,049
$22,14810th
$47,63825th
$72,797Median
$93,35975th
$119,40390th
$122,049This org · 90th
p10$22,148
p25$47,638
p50$72,797
p75$93,359
p90$119,403
$122,049

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 HI 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
Get Inspired CA$403,267 President $110,000 $106,092 2024
Climate Access Fund Corporation MD$404,259 Ceo $156,583 $163,509 2024
Torrey House Press UT$405,952 Executive Director $69,650 $81,972 2023
30 Mile River Watershed Association ME$408,868 Executive Director $100,722 $112,651 2024
Wesselman Nature Society Inc IN$396,745 Executive Director $63,785 $75,131 2024
Earthroots Field School Inc CA$391,713 Executive Director $27,335 $26,364 2024
Bees In The D MI$390,684 Vice-president/treasurer $69,735 $82,770 2023
Ecologik Institute CA$421,600 President $18,270 $17,621 2024
Blessed Earth Inc KY$382,900 President $191,959 $230,351 2024
Cloud City Conservation Center CO$424,000 Executive Di $77,650 $85,620 2023
Strawberry Hill Foundation Inc PA$380,658 Executive Di $71,500 $79,640 2024
Greater Arkansas River Nature Assoc CO$427,717 Executive Di $85,000 $91,036 2024
Pando Populus Inc CA$377,928 President $112,500 $108,504 2024
Rep Environmental Education Foundation VA$377,331 President $129,446 $139,601 2024
Wsbz Farms AR$429,747 Executive Dir. $53,550 $69,218 2023
Georgia Arborist Association Inc GA$374,382 Executive Di $74,282 $83,423 2024
Seaworthy Foundation Inc FL$431,973 Founder Ceo $80,000 $83,942 2024
Ecology In Classrooms And Outdoors OR$432,173 Executive Director $93,836 $100,207 2023
Vermont Wilderness School VT$372,886 Executive Director $70,673 $79,452 2024
Earth Day New York Inc NY$433,796 Executive Di $109,419 $113,698 2023
Habitatmap Incorporated NY$370,978 Executive Di $23,000 $23,214 2024
Green Beverly 107q Inc MA$369,863 President $48,000 $48,177 2024
Eco-justice Center Inc WI$436,056 Executive Director $58,700 $68,473 2024
Cool The Earth Inc CA$436,919 Exec Dir/boa $55,000 $53,046 2024
California Clean Energy Committee CA$438,983 President $66,000 $65,535 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI 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 HI 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 default90th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)91st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted84th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

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 (Winston Welch) 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 103 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (C60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $122,049 is reasonable (approximately the 90th 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.