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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Newport Performing Arts Center Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 050514456
RI · NTEE A61
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Melissa Quinn, Executive Director / CEO ($74,269) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 854 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Melissa Quinn — reported title “MANAGING DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

854 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 854 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$270 total compensation of comparable organizations → $298,834 $74,269
$5,23110th
$14,97025th
$32,082Median
$53,48075th
$69,84390th
$74,269This org · 92nd
p10$5,231
p25$14,970
p50$32,082
p75$53,480
p90$69,843
$74,269

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 RI 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
Lee County Arts & Community Center NC$134,854 Executive Di $30,897 $34,278 2023
Capitol City Lodge No 1147 Improved Benevevolent CA$135,068 President $4,584 $4,128 2024
William Lewis School Of Opera TX$135,149 Vice President $36,000 $37,556 2024
Kentucky Author Forum Inc KY$134,349 President & Producer $47,000 $54,216 2023
Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater Inc MN$135,508 Co-artistic Director $24,000 $25,462 2023
Craik-patton Inc WV$134,149 Executive Director $40,000 $45,167 2024
Chinese Cultural Productions CA$135,600 Executive Director $24,000 $21,613 2024
California History Center Foundation CA$135,627 Program Director (Fhda Instructor) $292,740 $263,622 2024
Historic Palmyra Inc NY$135,713 Executive Director $37,035 $34,901 2024
Organization Of Biological Field Stations Inc MA$134,016 Network Coordinator $8,500 $7,966 2024
Kaufherr Resource Center IL$133,926 Executive Dir. $76,331 $76,243 2025
Center For Music By People With Disabilities MT$135,967 Executive Director Non Voting Member Of The Board $36,000 $40,470 2024
Pulse Arts Inc CA$136,003 Executive Director $78,600 $70,782 2024
Friends Of The M MN$133,626 Director $12,670 $13,442 2023
Camp Aldersgate Foundation AR$136,118 Director $11,653 $13,660 2024
The Glenn L Martin MD$136,329 Executive Dir. $69,396 $67,661 2024
Abraham Lincoln Association IL$133,129 Executive Manager $29,125 $30,743 2023
Great Small Works Inc NY$136,745 Board Member $14,200 $13,382 2024
Korea Music Foundation Inc NY$132,970 President $3,000 $2,911 2023
Alice And Eleonore Schoenfeld CA$132,945 Ceo $60,000 $54,032 2024
Peterborough Historical Society NH$136,828 Executive Direc $68,827 $66,278 2024
Oregon Marshallese Community Association OR$132,849 President $3,639 $3,524 2024
Dwight D Eisenhower Society PA$132,722 Executive Dir. $41,074 $42,717 2024
T Thomas Fortune Foundation NJ$132,664 Executive Di $34,588 $32,206 2024
Saveartspace MI$132,588 Officer - Co $19,900 $21,421 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to RI 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 RI 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 default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)92nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Melissa Quinn) 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 854 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $74,269 is reasonable (approximately the 92nd 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.