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

Acting Out Theater Company Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 061791023
MA · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Linda Schoonmaker, Executive Director / CEO ($39,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 305 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 39th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Linda Schoonmaker — reported title “PRESIDENT/TR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

305 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 305 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$772 total compensation of comparable organizations → $147,082 $39,000
$10,55010th
$26,63425th
$46,403Median
$64,30575th
$79,69490th
$39,000This org · 39th
p10$10,550
p25$26,634
p50$46,403
p75$64,305
p90$79,694
$39,000

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 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
Theatre Puget Sound WA$337,152 Executive Director $83,160 $85,301 2023
Mile High Youth Theatre Inc CO$337,898 Executive Director $55,042 $57,219 2025
Childrens Musical Theatreworks Inc CA$336,869 Executive Dir. $12,000 $11,531 2024
The Paper Bag Players Inc NY$336,631 Executive Di $20,576 $20,691 2024
Glass Half Full Theatre TX$338,468 Co-producing Artistic Director $42,696 $47,528 2024
Jean Shelton Foundation CA$338,712 Executive Director $15,000 $14,414 2024
Theatre Rhinoceros Inc CA$336,121 Executive Dir. $78,500 $73,489 2025
Chicago Latino Theater Alliance IL$335,630 Executive Di $113,866 $121,362 2025
Fairbanks Drama Association AK$334,859 Executive Director $86,120 $89,262 2025
The Winterset Iowa Theater IA$340,600 President $5,000 $6,092 2024
North Carolina Theatre Conference NC$334,224 Executive Director $108,150 $121,150 2025
30 By Ninety Theatre Inc LA$341,146 Treasurer $36,000 $44,113 2024
Merely Players CO$333,603 Member $1,000 $1,067 2024
Los Angeles Theatresports CA$333,547 Board Member $780 $772 2023
Theatre With A Twist Inc MA$333,118 Director $43,569 $43,569 2024
Kidz Konnection Inc CT$333,085 President $50,833 $51,672 2025
Musical Youth Artist Repertory Theatre CA$332,871 President $75,955 $75,143 2023
Germantown Community Theatre Inc TN$332,841 Executive Director $53,420 $60,876 2025
Redtwist Theatre IL$342,425 Artist Director $14,805 $16,197 2024
Theatre Forty CA$343,128 Secretary $61,354 $57,437 2025
Playpenn Inc PA$331,512 Artistic Dir $88,952 $98,714 2024
Umpqua Actors Community Theatre OR$331,066 Executive Director $64,477 $66,632 2024
Master Arts Theatre MI$331,057 Artistic Dir $37,693 $43,295 2024
Longview Act TX$330,966 Executive Director $60,108 $66,910 2024
Barebones Productions Inc PA$343,995 Artistic Dir $50,000 $55,487 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 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 default39th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)44th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted39th

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 (Linda Schoonmaker) 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 305 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $39,000 is reasonable (approximately the 39th 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.