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

The City Choir Of Washington

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 223944441
DC · NTEE A6B
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Erin Freeman, Executive Director / CEO ($80,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 58 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 74th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Erin Freeman — reported title “Artistic Director/ex officio”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

58 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 58 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,758 total compensation of comparable organizations → $117,107 $80,000
$23,34910th
$42,01125th
$60,558Median
$80,87375th
$95,67090th
$80,000This org · 74th
p10$23,349
p25$42,011
p50$60,558
p75$80,873
p90$95,670
$80,000

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 DC 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
Roanoke Valley Childrens Choir Inc VA$360,633 Rvcc Director $74,106 $81,539 2024
Arkansas Choral Directors AR$359,780 Exec Director $55,000 $70,451 2024
Singomaha Inc NE$379,388 Executive Di $75,000 $94,640 2023
Voena CA$390,949 Executive Director $110,167 $108,406 2024
Wilmington Children's Chorus DE$344,704 Executive Director $60,043 $68,976 2023
Salt Lake Choral Artists UT$341,175 Managing Direct $50,000 $58,316 2024
Miami Childrens Chorus Inc FL$398,251 Executive Director $48,600 $53,565 2023
Columbus & Central Ohio Children's OH$399,094 Managing Dir $57,225 $67,289 2025
The Hymn Society In The United States DC$399,922 Executive Director $102,302 $105,324 2023
Jack Music Inc NY$338,095 Director $46,667 $48,055 2024
The Piatigorsky Foundation NY$331,767 Aristic Director/president $5,000 $5,301 2023
Refugee Choir Project WA$327,706 Executive Director $94,274 $96,184 2024
Society For The Preservation Of MO$412,643 Executive Director $29,500 $35,606 2024
Atlanta Master Chorale GA$325,611 Executive Director $61,000 $69,895 2024
Children's Chorus Of Maryland Inc MD$319,203 Excutive Director $85,261 $90,836 2024
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir Inc MA$314,922 Executive Di $49,847 $51,045 2024
The Talent Machine Company Inc MD$313,727 President $1,650 $1,758 2024
Girls Choral Academy MI$428,431 Executive Director $87,750 $100,553 2025
The Girl Choir Of South Florida Inc FL$309,837 Exeuctive Artistic Director $48,667 $50,757 2025
National Choral Council Inc NY$306,582 Exec Director $74,000 $76,201 2024
Island Choral Experience WA$306,575 Director $90,000 $91,823 2024
Chamber Music Charleston SC$435,776 President And Artistic Director $101,109 $117,104 2025
Larimer Choral Society CO$299,706 Executive Di $28,750 $30,605 2025
San Luis Obispo Master Chorale CA$299,577 Executive Director (Non-voting) $18,146 $17,395 2025
Charlotte Master Chorale NC$299,056 Ex-officio $52,958 $62,356 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to DC 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 DC 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 default74th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)78th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted76th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted74th

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 (Erin Freeman) 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 58 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A6B), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $80,000 is reasonable (approximately the 74th 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.