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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Best Production Company Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 061427059
CT · NTEE A650
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lisa Bono, Executive Director / CEO ($25,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 229 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 42nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

229 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 229 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$843 total compensation of comparable organizations → $102,480 $25,000
$4,70610th
$13,64625th
$30,162Median
$48,18875th
$61,89690th
$25,000This org · 42nd
p10$4,706
p25$13,646
p50$30,162
p75$48,188
p90$61,896
$25,000

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 CT 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
Ten Fifteen Productions OR$213,974 Executive Director $42,509 $40,895 2024
Pones Inc KY$213,740 Executive Director & Ex Officio Board Director $32,350 $36,005 2024
Dogteam Theatre Project Inc VT$213,541 Co-president $2,520 $2,628 2024
Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Co NY$213,428 Director $57,693 $54,007 2024
Innervision Theatre Arts Center Inc NY$215,083 Director $9,360 $8,761 2024
Staretthe Directors Company Inc NY$215,411 Executive Dir. $1,000 $964 2023
Trademark Theater MN$215,463 Founder/artistic Director $23,493 $23,428 2025
Piper Theatre Productions Inc NY$212,121 Artistic Director $10,000 $9,638 2023
Upfront Theatre WA$211,640 Executive Director $5,038 $4,672 2024
A Host Of People Inc MI$211,567 Secretary $18,936 $20,248 2024
Teatro De La Luna DC$211,505 Producer $18,638 $16,943 2024
Recreational Arts Inc NJ$211,220 President $16,938 $15,666 2024
Southern Plain Productions OK$210,644 Artistic Dir. $33,612 $38,342 2024
Vivid Stage Inc NJ$217,741 Artistic Director $30,000 $27,032 2025
Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival OK$209,969 Coker $34,975 $39,897 2024
Stageworx Co KS$218,008 President $18,884 $21,134 2024
Music Box Players PA$209,622 President $1,615 $1,669 2024
Mixed Magic Theatre & Cultural Events RI$209,376 Director $20,500 $20,364 2024
Story Theater Company IA$209,154 President $2,635 $2,988 2024
Lunchtime Productions CA$209,049 Executive Dir. $42,834 $39,448 2023
She Nyc Arts Inc NY$218,793 Artistic Executive Director $4,000 $3,855 2023
Asbury Park Theater Company NJ$208,816 Executive Director $24,324 $22,498 2024
Grand Theatre Of Oelwein Inc IA$219,679 Treasurer $25,760 $31,316 2022
Community Players Inc NE$220,307 Executive Di $47,000 $52,369 2024
Northern California Dance Collective CA$220,351 Treasurer $1,550 $1,387 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CT 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 CT 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 default42nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)43rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted42nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted41st

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 (Lisa Bono) 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 229 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $25,000 is reasonable (approximately the 42nd 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.