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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Citizens For The Arts In Pennsylvania

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 232388419
PA · NTEE A91Z
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Pamela Snyder Etters, Executive Director / CEO ($26,833) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 13 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 77th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Pamela Snyder Etters — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 11/2023)”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

13 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 13 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$793 total compensation of comparable organizations → $58,561 $26,833
$1,34610th
$3,20125th
$7,855Median
$16,53875th
$54,84590th
$26,833This org · 77th
p10$1,346
p25$3,201
p50$7,855
p75$16,538
p90$54,845
$26,833

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 PA 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
Arts Unity Movement CA$8,248 Chairman $19,408 $16,372 2025
Busy Brains Childrens Museum IL$8,287 Executive Director $4,736 $4,669 2024
Dunya Inc MA$8,381 President $855 $793 2023
1615 The Gc Media Project CO$8,925 President $15,000 $14,423 2024
Athenaeum Theatre Productions IL$9,339 General Mgr $60,974 $58,561 2025
Inspire The Fire Inc NC$7,150 Ceo $3,000 $3,201 2023
Elc Development WA$10,000 Chief Executive Officer $18,421 $16,538 2024
National Purple Heart Honor NY$10,379 Executive Di $60,000 $54,368 2024
Api Arts & Outreach Inc NY$6,000 President $1,624 $1,472 2024
City Dance Inc TX$10,992 Director $5,000 $5,015 2024
University Of North Carolina School Of NC$11,604 President $53,047 $54,964 2024
Perpetuo Films VA$11,679 Treasurer/director $1,319 $1,315 2023
New Sounds Music Incorporated PA$11,957 Executive Director $7,855 $7,855 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA 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 PA 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 default77th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)77th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted62nd

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 (Pamela Snyder Etters) 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 13 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $26,833 is reasonable (approximately the 77th 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.