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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Barnsdall Arts

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237132108
CA · NTEE A110
FY ending 2025-03-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Shelah Lehrer-graiwer, Executive Director / CEO ($21,800) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 20 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 65th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Shelah Lehrer-graiwer — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

20 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 20 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$471 total compensation of comparable organizations → $529,893 $21,800
$4,46510th
$6,85225th
$15,514Median
$30,44975th
$81,99490th
$21,800This org · 65th
p10$4,465
p25$6,852
p50$15,514
p75$30,449
p90$81,994
$21,800

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 CA 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
Trent House Association Inc NJ$111,226 Interim Executive Director $6,000 $6,556 2023
Waynesboro Community Theatre Project Inc PA$109,329 Director $29,879 $35,420 2024
Nashville Ballet Foundation TN$108,590 Artistic Director/ceo $4,054 $5,065 2024
Smh Support Corporation NY$104,003 Chairperson $77,265 $85,446 2023
Cca North Corporation NH$126,000 Vice-president $11,414 $12,528 2024
Ihsaa Achieve Foundation IA$127,905 Executive Director $56,244 $73,205 2024
San Antonio Art League TX$129,113 Committee Chair $6,000 $6,951 2025
The Children's Center For Science & OH$96,659 Executive Director - Non-voting $374 $471 2024
Friends Of The St Augustine Amphitheatre Inc FL$130,774 Director $2,000 $2,300 2023
Friends Of The M MN$133,626 Director $12,670 $15,321 2023
Capitol City Lodge No 1147 Improved Benevevolent CA$135,068 President $4,584 $4,705 2024
Camp Aldersgate Foundation AR$136,118 Director $11,653 $15,570 2024
The Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Modern Art MD$87,004 Trustee $463,127 $529,893 2023
Sammons Center Endowment Corp TX$86,821 Executive Director $13,000 $15,458 2024
Cmc Leverage Lender Inc CA$85,738 Executive Director $12,422 $12,422 2025
Wabe Foundation Inc GA$77,475 Ceo $23,398 $28,792 2023
Up2me Community Foundation Inc CA$152,827 Ceo $16,710 $17,152 2024
Barnes-deinzer Seneca County OH$153,034 Executive Di $20,474 $26,538 2023
Hastings Museum Foundation Inc NE$153,425 Executive Di $62,000 $81,610 2023
Topeka Civic Theatre KS$170,265 Secretary/tr $14,777 $18,977 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default65th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)70th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted25th

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 (Shelah Lehrer-graiwer) 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 20 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A11), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $21,800 is reasonable (approximately the 65th 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.