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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 251732894
PA · NTEE A70
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lee Gutkind, Executive Director / CEO ($42,692) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 290 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 83rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lee Gutkind — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

290 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 290 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $447,006 $42,692
$3,47910th
$7,74825th
$18,309Median
$32,26675th
$50,74390th
$42,692This org · 83rd
p10$3,479
p25$7,748
p50$18,309
p75$32,266
p90$50,743
$42,692

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
Fluxus Haus Inc FL$61,506 Executive Director $35,000 $32,971 2024
The Sioux City Conservatory Of Music IA$61,517 Music Director Board Member $6,129 $6,928 2023
Lea County Museum Inc NM$61,724 Director $40,000 $43,142 2024
Reach Youth & Family Theatre IA$61,765 Executive Director $6,528 $7,379 2023
Reflections Of Manatee Inc FL$61,848 Executive Director $5,000 $4,850 2023
Centre Park Historic District Inc PA$61,927 Executive Direc $18,000 $18,000 2024
Hawaii Japanese Center HI$61,982 President $24,700 $22,175 2024
Real Life Center For The Performing TX$60,433 President $9,456 $9,485 2024
Francesco Von Mendelssohn Fund Inc PA$60,403 Assistant Treasurer $16,104 $16,104 2024
Colorado Asian Culture And Education Network CO$60,378 Executive Director $79,264 $78,466 2023
Chenega Heritage Inc AK$60,338 President $2,000 $1,974 2023
Louholtz Upper Ohio Valley Hall Of OH$60,276 Board Member $45,100 $46,665 2025
Ruskin Art Club Inc CA$62,321 Executive Dir. $33,662 $29,148 2024
Early Era Collective TX$62,422 Artistic Director $2,351 $2,427 2023
The Krenov Foundation CA$62,712 President $4,000 $3,566 2023
Motion Picture Hall Of Fame CA$59,521 Trustee $10,200 $10,224 2021
Sweet Grass County Museum Society MT$59,469 Curator $14,264 $15,418 2024
Vision Historic Preservation Founda TX$59,350 Treasurerdirector $9,167 $9,195 2024
The John P Parker Historical Society Inc OH$63,235 Docent $10,179 $11,131 2023
Westminster Preservation Trust Inc MD$63,453 President $13,000 $12,188 2024
Chamber Music Society Of New Paltz Inc NY$63,535 President $9,500 $8,863 2023
Noontime Concerts CA$63,570 Executive Director $103,757 $92,497 2023
Indianapolis Movement Arts Collective IN$63,627 Director Of Movement Education $4,275 $4,521 2024
Mcduffie Museum Inc GA$58,877 Treasurer $1,065 $1,105 2023
The Francis Poulenc Trio Inc MD$63,664 Secretary/vice President $17,500 $16,891 2023

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 default83rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)82nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted85th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Lee Gutkind) 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 290 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $42,692 is reasonable (approximately the 83rd 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.