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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Rochester Folk Art Guild Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 166069240
NY · NTEE A200
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Paul Schliffer, Executive Director / CEO ($15,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 44 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 11th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Paul Schliffer — reported title “Treasurer”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

44 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 44 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,720 total compensation of comparable organizations → $152,824 $15,000
$13,66510th
$30,04925th
$55,419Median
$70,10575th
$97,23690th
$15,000This org · 11th
p10$13,665
p25$30,049
p50$55,419
p75$70,105
p90$97,236
$15,000

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 NY 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
Main Street Arts Inc NY$424,719 Executive Director & Curat $81,818 $81,818 2023
Center For Latter-day Saint Arts Inc NY$438,859 Executive Director $144,410 $140,267 2024
Pesvebi Inc NY$412,518 President $2,800 $2,720 2024
Catskill Art Society Inc NY$411,785 Executive Director $70,000 $70,000 2023
Scool Sounds Inc NY$447,788 Executive Dir. $70,702 $68,674 2024
Monica Bill Barnes & Company Inc NY$449,169 Founder/artistic Director $105,761 $102,727 2024
Coming Together Festival Of Dance & NY$399,596 Executive Director $25,064 $25,064 2023
Parent Child Relationship Association Inc NY$459,625 Executive Director $57,487 $55,838 2024
Artistic Freedom Initiative Inc NY$393,958 Co-executive Director & Secretary $157,338 $152,824 2024
World Around Inc NY$461,660 Executive Director $120,000 $120,000 2023
Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Inc NY$468,488 Executive Director $84,423 $84,423 2023
Ugly Duckling Presse Ltd NY$381,176 Press Manager $58,125 $56,457 2024
Unity Earth Inc NY$473,855 Treasurer & C.f.o. $33,750 $33,750 2023
Statement Arts Inc NY$379,950 Secretary $60,818 $59,073 2024
Montez Press Arts Inc NY$479,513 Ex-officio Board Mem $75,532 $73,365 2024
Hudson River Music Hall Productions Inc NY$483,329 Managing Director $60,000 $58,279 2024
Media Art Xploration Inc NY$484,096 Director $52,000 $52,000 2023
Space On The Farminc NY$359,689 Executive Director (Left 2024) $70,750 $68,720 2024
The Brooklyn Steppers Inc NY$359,620 Executive Director $41,500 $39,270 2025
Nars Foundation Inc NY$355,287 Founding Director $43,002 $43,002 2023
Inwood Art Works Inc NY$353,982 Chairman $55,000 $55,000 2023
Bailey's Cafe Inc NY$353,023 Executive Di $18,750 $18,750 2023
Pharos The International Photo Archives Association NY$343,867 Executive Director $33,405 $33,405 2023
Traditional Arts In Upstate New York In NY$514,530 Executive Director $35,038 $35,038 2023
The Association For Cultural Equity Inc NY$337,589 Executive Director $68,436 $66,473 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default11th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted11th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted11th

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 (Paul Schliffer) 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 44 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $15,000 is reasonable (approximately the 11th 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.