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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

516 Arts

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 208540744
NM · NTEE A51
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of April Chalay, Executive Director / CEO ($91,220) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 45 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 91st percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

45 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 45 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,273 $91,220
$10,88310th
$43,01725th
$58,137Median
$75,92275th
$88,92590th
$91,220This org · 91st
p10$10,883
p25$43,017
p50$58,137
p75$75,922
p90$88,925
$91,220

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 NM 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
New Jersey State Museum Foundation NJ$383,083 Interim Ed $28,750 $23,866 2024
Mcpherson Museum & Arts Foundation KS$383,070 Exe Director $55,005 $56,882 2023
Michelson Museum Of Art TX$388,017 Executive Dir. $53,900 $50,129 2024
Santa Paula Art Museum CA$394,622 Executive Di $99,274 $79,701 2024
North Carolina Pottery Museum Inc NC$394,862 Executive Director $68,195 $63,825 2025
Concrete Couch CO$396,632 Executive Director $60,000 $55,071 2023
Doral Contemporary Art Museum Inc FL$398,641 President $2,000 $1,747 2024
Cartoon Art Museum Of California CA$365,349 Executive Director $70,284 $56,427 2024
Sumter Gallery Of Art SC$361,959 Executive Di $12,513 $11,824 2025
Dixie Center For The Arts Inc LA$350,701 Executive Director $78,706 $80,578 2024
Waterworks Visual Arts Center Inc NC$348,857 Executive Di $76,743 $73,725 2024
Offcenter Community Arts Project NM$348,177 Executive Director $62,423 $64,267 2023
Lagrange Art Museum Inc GA$422,931 Executive Di $65,473 $61,207 2024
Mitte Cultural District TX$332,344 Executive Dir. $75,000 $71,813 2023
Bozeman Art Museum MT$332,259 Executive Director $49,000 $49,109 2024
Wharton Esherick Museum PA$330,251 Executive Director $111,483 $103,365 2024
International Art Museum Of America CA$311,017 Director $12,408 $10,256 2023
Torrance Cultural Arts Center CA$457,647 Executive Director $101,435 $81,436 2024
Arnot Art Museum NY$460,339 Trustee $4 $3 2023
Cue Art Foundation NY$297,378 Executive Direc $121,244 $101,863 2024
Trustees Of The Tw Wood Gallery VT$294,965 Executive Director $65,769 $61,548 2024
Journeys In Education Inc NH$293,577 Executive Director $34,692 $29,783 2024
Lowell Art Association MA$475,992 President $106,923 $89,333 2024
4 Elements Studio Inc NY$483,049 Executive Director $62,000 $52,089 2024
Coos Art Museum OR$484,043 Executive Director $67,333 $58,137 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NM 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 NM 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 default91st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

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 (April Chalay) 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 45 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A51), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $91,220 is reasonable (approximately the 91st 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.