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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Phffft Company Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 133761279
WA · NTEE A60Z
FY ending 2024-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cyrus Khambatta, Executive Director / CEO ($46,374) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 78 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 59th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

78 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 78 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$668 total compensation of comparable organizations → $116,798 $46,374
$7,49110th
$17,28625th
$37,890Median
$61,90375th
$78,78490th
$46,374This org · 59th
p10$7,491
p25$17,286
p50$37,890
p75$61,903
p90$78,784
$46,374

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 WA 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
Disco Riot CA$177,873 President $18,000 $16,913 2025
Off Broadway Theatre Inc UT$178,792 Artistic Dir $43,440 $49,659 2024
Songbird Multimedia And Performing Arts Foundation AR$176,810 President $17,925 $23,169 2023
Soli Chamber Ensemble TX$176,756 Managing Director $39,301 $42,779 2025
I Sound Performing Arts CA$181,555 Executive Dir $3,500 $3,376 2024
Dance Wisconsin Inc WI$172,236 Director $5,200 $5,909 2025
51 Walden Inc MA$187,311 Secretary And Director $38,521 $37,667 2025
Nautilus Music Theater MN$168,127 President & Artistic Director $34,533 $38,113 2024
Instaballet OR$188,635 Executive Di $63,580 $64,248 2025
Northern Lights Arts Council Inc ND$167,052 Executive Director $6,000 $7,164 2025
Arete Living Arts Foundation NY$191,016 Executive Director $3,854 $4,005 2023
Gabriel Chamber Ensemble PA$191,691 Exec Director $11,644 $12,970 2024
Brooklynone Productions Inc NY$192,847 Officer $27,470 $27,725 2024
Bay Area Omni Foundation For CA$192,946 President $35,200 $34,953 2023
The Gerald Arpino Foundation IL$162,771 Executive Director $6,750 $7,631 2023
Chestnut Fine Arts Center Inc KS$162,453 Executive Director $77,737 $96,573 2023
Ra-ve Cultural Foundation Inc AR$195,135 Executive Director $31,416 $40,608 2023
Creative Arts Repertoire Ensemble MI$195,311 Director $7,500 $8,646 2024
Dance Canvas Inc GA$202,673 Executive Artistic Director $104,000 $116,798 2024
Allens Community Theatre TX$205,139 At Large $1,275 $1,467 2023
Starring Buffalo Inc NY$206,183 Executive Director $15,000 $14,749 2025
Inta Inc NY$149,778 Artistic Director $83,662 $86,933 2023
State Theatre Preservation Society PA$207,334 President $3,116 $3,573 2023
California Music Center CA$148,884 Execdir To 6 $42,461 $40,953 2024
Maryland Center For The Visual And Performing Arts Inc MD$207,895 Executive Director $22,000 $22,381 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default59th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted60th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted59th

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 (Cyrus Khambatta) 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 78 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $46,374 is reasonable (approximately the 59th 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.