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

Big Top Education Centerinc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 260473978
KS · NTEE P33
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Samantha Phillips, Executive Director / CEO ($50,695) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 308 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 58th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

308 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 308 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$239 total compensation of comparable organizations → $353,965 $50,695
$14,12810th
$30,40425th
$47,189Median
$59,76175th
$73,45490th
$50,695This org · 58th
p10$14,128
p25$30,404
p50$47,189
p75$59,761
p90$73,454
$50,695

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 KS 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
Threshold Montessori School TN$363,613 Executive Director $85,800 $83,481 2024
Sandite Child Development Center Inc OK$363,871 Director $59,486 $60,631 2024
Jazzyz Little Treasurez Childcare And Learning Ctr SC$364,491 President $78,000 $75,322 2024
Olin Day Care Inc IA$364,529 Executive Director $46,344 $45,759 2025
Little Bears Playhouse Inc AK$365,259 Executive Dir. $64,247 $58,535 2023
Usa Early Child Care Center Inc MI$361,251 Director $50,000 $49,182 2023
Mums - The Kitty Hupman Weekday School NC$360,729 Director (Non-voting Member Of Board) $41,223 $39,427 2024
Willow Blossom Learning Center Inc MA$360,434 Center Director $70,820 $57,390 2025
Friends Of Potrero Hill Nursery CA$367,416 Director $106,558 $85,171 2024
Tanque Verde Extended Care Program AZ$358,851 Ed $76,451 $66,303 2025
Barrio Station CA$358,745 Executive Di $97,920 $78,266 2024
Lindale Child Care Program VA$368,650 Executive Director $67,532 $60,356 2024
Pooh's Corner Inc NY$358,188 Director $83,538 $71,937 2023
Calvary Childcare Center CA$358,065 Executive Director $68,188 $56,112 2023
Kids Club Kids SD$369,860 Executive Director $45,695 $48,060 2023
Children's Castle Inc SD$369,953 President $21,240 $22,339 2023
Sandys Day Care Inc AR$356,507 President $46,808 $50,141 2023
Little Precious Steps TX$355,931 Executive Dir. $60,428 $55,952 2024
Elkader Childcare And Learning Center IA$353,375 Executive Director $52,538 $54,821 2023
Tri-con Child Care Center Inc IL$373,563 Executive Director $80,846 $71,674 2025
Destiny Kidz Center WA$373,878 President $26,000 $22,183 2023
Rainbow Child Care Center MS$374,365 Director $855 $907 2023
Mba Foundation MS$352,245 President $25,759 $27,340 2023
Old School Of South Burlington Inc VT$352,174 Executive Director $65,976 $63,284 2023
Children's Center Of New Paltz Inc NY$351,548 Director $35,899 $30,914 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to KS 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 KS 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 default58th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)54th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted60th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted57th

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 (Samantha Phillips) 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 308 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (P33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $50,695 is reasonable (approximately the 58th 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.