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

Denver Lyric Opera Guild

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237225165
CO · NTEE A6A
FY ending 2024-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Debbie Roth, Executive Director / CEO ($2,875) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 1461 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 4th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

1,461 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 1,461 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$22 total compensation of comparable organizations → $298,834 $2,875
$5,58310th
$17,49325th
$36,311Median
$55,76175th
$73,76090th
$2,875This org · 4th
p10$5,583
p25$17,493
p50$36,311
p75$55,761
p90$73,760
$2,875

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
Sunrise Historic And Prehistoric WY$165,662 Principal In $6,000 $6,700 2024
Carmel Gallery Alliance CA$165,024 Chief Executive Officer $15,932 $14,347 2024
Spring Grove Area Historical PA$165,010 Executive Di $57,335 $59,628 2024
International Association Of Music Libraries Archives &Documentation WI$164,970 Secretary General $2,165 $2,358 2024
Driftless Community Radio Inc WI$164,962 Treasurer $14,560 $15,858 2024
Arthaus Inc IA$165,898 Director $38,499 $42,829 2025
Artseed CA$165,991 Exec Dir/secty $39,874 $35,908 2024
The Legacy Project IL$166,064 Executive Director $51,095 $53,934 2023
Quincy Historical Society MA$164,769 Executive Di $20,000 $18,743 2024
Steamboat Dance Theatre CO$166,190 Executive Dir. $28,585 $28,585 2024
Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical NY$164,616 Board Member $4,000 $3,770 2024
Buffalo Bill Museum Of Le Claire IA$164,459 Exec Director $21,500 $24,551 2024
Griffin Spalding Historical Society GA$166,413 Executive Director $20,430 $22,055 2023
Journeys In Film NM$164,417 Executive Director $32,375 $36,314 2024
Camfel Productions Inc CA$166,635 President $53,677 $48,338 2024
The Woman's Club Of Dayton Foundation OH$164,202 Exec Director $30,800 $35,026 2023
Student Media Corporation KS$163,991 General Manager $46,370 $53,787 2023
The Museum Of Carousel Art & History OH$163,984 Executive Director $52,100 $59,248 2023
Cygnus Creative Arts Centre Inc NJ$166,872 Artistic Dir $23,650 $21,453 2025
Beale Street Caravan Inc TN$163,951 Exec. Dir. $48,750 $55,019 2023
Arts Center At Killingworth Inc CT$163,927 Board Member / Trustee $7,852 $7,678 2024
Aguijon Theater Company Of Chicago IL$163,891 Managing Director $20,750 $21,903 2023
Viva Voices Choral Organization Inc KY$166,955 President $49,250 $53,760 2025
Vangeline Theater Inc NY$167,010 Artistic Director, Board Member, Teacher $58,100 $56,369 2023
Northern Lights Arts Council Inc ND$167,052 Executive Director $6,000 $6,689 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 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 default4th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted7th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted4th

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 Roth) 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 1461 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $2,875 is reasonable (approximately the 4th 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.