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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Douglas County Youth Orchestra Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 200926100
CO · NTEE A69
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Debbie Davidson-stanfill, Executive Director / CEO ($44,136) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 68 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 54th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

68 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 68 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$895 total compensation of comparable organizations → $107,526 $44,136
$9,07410th
$25,18625th
$41,093Median
$57,52275th
$72,80990th
$44,136This org · 54th
p10$9,074
p25$25,186
p50$41,093
p75$57,522
p90$72,809
$44,136

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 CO 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
Black Hills Symphony Orchestra Society SD$246,108 Executive Director $33,099 $38,096 2025
Arapahoe Philharmonic Inc CO$245,061 Executive Di $73,163 $77,317 2023
Oregon East Symphony OR$248,785 President $900 $895 2024
Bemidji Symphony Orchestra MN$249,976 Executive Di $43,728 $45,061 2025
Chamber Music Oc CA$243,060 Executive Dir. $10,580 $10,069 2023
Macon Pops Inc GA$239,728 Ceo $48,500 $53,745 2023
Lake Washington Symphony Orche WA$253,894 President $5,000 $4,792 2024
Kennett Symphony Of Chester County PA$254,669 Music Direct $29,154 $32,041 2023
Metropolitan Youth Symphony Inc MI$236,483 Executive Director $37,451 $40,313 2025
Symphony Of The Redwoods CA$234,665 Executive Director $16,402 $15,609 2023
South Coast Symphony CA$234,409 Ceo $23,332 $21,567 2024
East County Youth Symphony CA$233,133 Executive Director $44,000 $41,873 2023
North Charleston Pops SC$260,852 Executive Dir. $16,667 $19,163 2023
Ashland Symphony Orchestra OH$262,008 Executive Di $44,582 $50,548 2024
Experiential Orchestra Inc NY$230,111 General Manager $4,500 $4,353 2024
Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association OR$230,007 Artistic Chair Sinfonietta Dir $5,500 $5,327 2025
Jacksonville Symphony Society IL$263,856 Executive Director $6,070 $6,389 2024
Huntsville Youth Orchestra Inc AL$228,701 Executive Dir $16,000 $19,050 2023
Arizona Philharmonic Inc AZ$228,246 Executive Dir. $25,000 $25,737 2024
Portland Chamber Music Festival ME$228,015 Executive Director $40,404 $44,589 2023
Catskill Symphony Orchestra NY$266,367 Executive Dir. $35,000 $33,856 2024
Lyra MN$267,342 Players Representative $2,000 $2,116 2024
Monterey County Pops CA$225,001 Executive Director $18,337 $17,451 2023
Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra Inc GA$224,666 Executive Director $24,800 $26,693 2024
Minot Symphony Association Inc ND$271,643 Executive Director $55,200 $64,847 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO cost of living and 2025 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 CO 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 default54th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)59th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted54th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted54th

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 (Debbie Davidson-stanfill) 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 68 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A69), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $44,136 is reasonable (approximately the 54th 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.