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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Creative Arts For Kids Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 042623711
MA · NTEE A250
FY ending 2025-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michelle Aguillon, Executive Director / CEO ($57,505) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 146 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 58th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

146 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 146 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$175 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,908 $57,505
$9,36410th
$28,49925th
$52,221Median
$73,18875th
$89,54190th
$57,505This org · 58th
p10$9,364
p25$28,499
p50$52,221
p75$73,188
p90$89,541
$57,505

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 MA 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
Aya Art Co CA$270,714 Officer $275 $280 2023
Center For Visual Artists Greensboro Inc NC$269,043 Director Of Operations $35,750 $42,195 2024
Bas Fisher Invitational FL$271,264 Director & P $50,000 $53,654 2024
Advocacy For The Visual Arts Inc WY$268,504 Executive Di $58,000 $73,039 2023
Chris Babcock Art Prep CA$267,281 President $64,835 $63,949 2024
Mountain Time Arts MT$266,610 Executive Dir. $86,068 $109,106 2023
Professional Artistic Research Projects OH$265,853 Executive Director $42,000 $50,813 2024
Academy Of Music Outreach CA$265,455 Executive Director $84,000 $85,300 2023
Arts Gowanus Inc NY$276,709 Executive Director $109,928 $113,466 2024
Southwest Music Education Association CA$262,512 President $6,000 $5,766 2025
Hunakai Studio Of Fine Arts Inc MA$261,687 President $64,649 $68,320 2023
Allegheny Riverstone Center For The PA$279,022 Executive Director $30,000 $34,173 2024
Utah Youth Symphony Orchestra Assoc UT$260,676 Board Chair $3,290 $3,960 2023
Greenwich Art Society Inc CT$260,507 President, Managing Direct $56,260 $60,255 2024
Photography Without Borders Inc PA$260,386 Executive Di $83,559 $97,994 2023
Borealis Art Guild MN$259,168 Director $8,000 $9,296 2023
Junior High Incorporated CA$281,645 Executive Director $32,000 $31,563 2024
Miano Academy Of Art Inc FL$257,897 President Non Voting Member $68,771 $73,797 2024
The Institute For Art And Olfaction CA$257,075 Executive Director $43,650 $44,325 2023
West Texas Conservatory TX$283,329 President $46,928 $55,204 2023
Bob Mizer Foundation CA$256,316 President $48,800 $48,134 2024
Emerald Coast Honors Orchestra Foundation Inc FL$256,242 Secretary $3,900 $4,308 2023
Lancaster Creative Factory PA$284,765 Executive Director $25,000 $29,318 2023
Be Frank Foundation CO$255,229 Managing Director $69,420 $78,281 2023
Center For Architecture And Design CA$285,759 Executive Director $11,142 $11,315 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default58th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)65th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted43rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted55th

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 Aguillon) 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 146 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A25), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $57,505 is reasonable (approximately the 58th 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.