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

Concordia Counseling A Lutheran

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 993109325
IN · NTEE F60
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michelle Downey, Executive Director / CEO ($43,175) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 134 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 33rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

134 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 134 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,243 total compensation of comparable organizations → $234,410 $43,175
$18,70210th
$35,52525th
$57,429Median
$82,33875th
$116,97390th
$43,175This org · 33rd
p10$18,702
p25$35,525
p50$57,429
p75$82,338
p90$116,973
$43,175

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 IN 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
Adams Purpose CO$390,518 Executive Director $31,254 $28,418 2024
Wells Of Wholeness Inc GA$391,188 Executive Di $132,125 $125,976 2024
Elevate North Texas TX$392,082 Executive Director $60,000 $56,914 2024
Fighting Chance Inc NY$381,997 Chairman & Ceo $60,000 $51,413 2024
Deliver The Dream Inc FL$381,679 Ceo/executiv $130,907 $116,615 2024
Thriving Families Counseling Services IA$381,561 Director $140,508 $142,127 2025
Life Focus Center Inc NJ$396,394 President $47,600 $40,300 2024
Nami Wayne & Holmes Counties OH$380,782 Executive Di $38,728 $40,046 2023
House In The Woods Inc ME$380,477 Secretary/treas $14,968 $14,632 2023
Drums In Recovery Inc FL$397,477 President $183,200 $163,198 2024
Mental Health Grace Alliance TX$397,742 President An $81,520 $77,327 2024
Marriage Mentors Inc TX$398,843 Ceo/president $138,334 $131,218 2024
Companions On A Journey OH$378,239 Executive Di $45,750 $47,306 2023
Veteran Resilience Project Inc MN$377,786 Vice Chair $2,325 $2,243 2023
Healing Heroes Ministries MT$405,025 President $229,325 $234,410 2024
Love And Respect Ministries Inc MI$405,717 President $224,820 $220,047 2024
The Moriah Foundation IL$370,540 Executive Director $134,325 $128,924 2023
Story House Ministries Inc IN$366,241 Executive Di $69,224 $71,269 2023
Childrens Grief Center Of El Paso TX$411,640 Executive Director $115,414 $109,477 2024
Shielding The Frontline Kern County Inc CA$412,313 Executive Dir. $60,000 $50,581 2023
Wholeness To Freedom Ministries Inc FL$412,452 President $19,664 $18,035 2023
Marriage Heritage Inc GA$364,732 Ceo & Secretary $144,000 $137,299 2024
Verity Inc FL$413,652 Executive Director $60,008 $53,456 2024
Life Over Coffee SC$361,888 President $115,000 $117,127 2023
Sanctuary Counseling Center TN$360,869 Executive Director $102,500 $102,168 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IN 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 IN 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 default33rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)31st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted13th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted31st

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 (Michelle Downey) 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 134 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (F60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $43,175 is reasonable (approximately the 33rd 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.