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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Emergent Arts

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 263230607
AR · NTEE A25
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Erin Holliday, Executive Director / CEO ($26,940) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 64 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 38th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Erin Holliday — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

64 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 64 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$748 total compensation of comparable organizations → $104,131 $26,940
$14,15510th
$21,88025th
$34,267Median
$50,88475th
$68,31490th
$26,940This org · 38th
p10$14,155
p25$21,880
p50$34,267
p75$50,884
p90$68,314
$26,940

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 AR 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
Educarte Incorporated MD$159,450 Executive Direc $25,363 $21,095 2024
Childrens Art Studio DC$158,586 Chair $130,000 $101,489 2024
Articulture MN$158,528 Executive Dir. $37,316 $33,772 2023
National Art Education Foundation VA$168,143 Secretary/treasurer $29,651 $26,222 2023
Voices CO$154,176 Executive Director $72,000 $63,235 2023
Beyond The Grade TX$154,023 Executive Director $117,012 $104,131 2024
Unruly Arts OH$174,101 Executive Director $62,400 $60,534 2023
La A Schools Inc LA$174,496 Executive Director $56,667 $57,152 2023
Illustration Institute ME$147,443 Co Founder $37,692 $33,577 2024
Institute 193 Incorporated KY$176,991 Board Chair $25,000 $24,600 2023
Essex Youth Theater Inc NJ$145,404 Artistic Director And General Manager $75,712 $60,139 2024
Susan Kathleen Black Foundation Inc TX$142,600 Exec Director $29,333 $26,875 2023
Great River Taoist Center Inc VA$142,450 Director $36,000 $30,924 2024
Joy Engine Inc WI$181,262 Executive Director $87,550 $81,343 2024
Xyayx The Movement Inc NY$139,000 Program Leader $12,335 $10,209 2023
The Mountain Artists Guild Inc AZ$184,868 Executive Dir. $31,701 $27,924 2023
Dstl Arts CA$137,332 Founder, Executive Director; President $14,325 $11,005 2024
Center Grove Fine Arts Academy Inc IN$185,452 Executive Dir. $24,000 $23,181 2023
Appalachian Children's Chorus Inc WV$185,729 Executive Director $46,000 $43,167 2025
Pulse Arts Inc CA$136,003 Executive Director $78,600 $60,381 2024
Catholic Literary Arts TX$187,228 President And Founder $19,500 $17,353 2024
Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture MI$188,734 Executive Director $48,000 $44,076 2024
Arts Access South Carolina SC$130,873 Executive Di $50,500 $48,254 2023
Collective Arts Network OH$196,157 Executive Di $50,000 $47,113 2024
Franklin Pond Chamber Music Inc GA$196,945 Executive Director $25,000 $22,363 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AR 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 AR 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 default38th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted39th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted36th

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 (Erin Holliday) 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 64 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A25), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $26,940 is reasonable (approximately the 38th 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.