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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Aiken Music Festival

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 262892095
SC · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-04-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Janice Jennings, Executive Director / CEO ($75,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 178 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 79th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Janice Jennings — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

178 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 178 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$540 total compensation of comparable organizations → $123,452 $75,000
$13,55710th
$31,59125th
$51,558Median
$70,91675th
$87,16590th
$75,000This org · 79th
p10$13,557
p25$31,591
p50$51,558
p75$70,916
p90$87,165
$75,000

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 SC 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
Summit Choral Society Inc OH$385,171 Executive Dir. $80,720 $81,951 2024
Global Arts Corporation CA$380,948 Ceo $63,009 $52,153 2024
American Choral Directors Association Of MN$386,926 Executive Director $98,504 $90,894 2025
Columbia Music Festival Association SC$388,941 Exec Director $81,250 $81,250 2024
Ted Brown Music Outreach WA$389,619 Executive Director $36,723 $31,516 2024
Juneau Jazz & Classics AK$390,873 Executive Di $73,253 $69,114 2023
Corpsvets Inc GA$376,069 Executive Director $16,196 $15,610 2024
Girls Rock Dc Inc DC$375,969 Executive Director $61,270 $51,538 2024
Little Village Foundation CA$392,844 Executive Director $86,000 $73,285 2023
Friends Of The Orchestra CO$374,591 Executive Dir. $29,345 $26,972 2024
Porchfest Dc DC$394,155 Co-executive Director $32,092 $27,792 2023
Chamber Music Monterey Bay CA$373,584 Operations Manager $69,075 $57,174 2024
Music In Common Inc GA$395,049 Executive Dir. $60,000 $57,828 2024
We Make Noise Inc AZ$395,290 President $52,285 $48,199 2024
Fontana Chamber Arts MI$371,972 Director $53,523 $51,589 2025
Redtone Records CA$395,896 Ed/pres/boar $14,230 $12,126 2023
Bach Concert Series Inc MD$397,487 Music Director $40,300 $36,115 2024
Choral Masterworks Festival Inc FL$397,541 Executive Director $59,815 $52,474 2025
Free Guitars 4 Kids MN$369,229 Executive Director $112,198 $109,408 2023
Third Angle New Music Ensemble OR$368,972 Executive Director $65,740 $58,519 2024
Take Me To The River Education CA$368,685 Board Member $37,500 $31,956 2023
29 11 International Exchange MN$399,583 Executive Artistic Director/co-founder $49,075 $46,482 2024
Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival I VT$367,354 Executive Director $70,000 $69,531 2023
Newberry Consort Nfp IL$365,908 Executive Director $6,235 $5,876 2024
Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra CA$405,189 President $40,000 $34,086 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to SC 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 SC 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 default79th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)74th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted79th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted78th

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 (Janice Jennings) 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 178 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $75,000 is reasonable (approximately the 79th 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.