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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Iowa City Unesco City Of Literature

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 271303892
IA · NTEE B60
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John Kenyon, Executive Director / CEO ($108,323) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 132 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 95th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

132 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 132 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$237 total compensation of comparable organizations → $236,271 $108,323
$14,91710th
$28,49925th
$50,563Median
$69,28575th
$85,25390th
$108,323This org · 95th
p10$14,917
p25$28,499
p50$50,563
p75$69,285
p90$85,253
$108,323

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 IA 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
Literacy Chippewa Valley WI$244,707 Executive Di $47,017 $43,689 2025
Harleys Dream CO$245,039 Executive Dir. $52,000 $45,538 2024
Second Chance Education Inc CA$245,689 Ceo $59,509 $48,317 2023
Florida Preborn Rescue Inc FL$245,779 Director $124,492 $106,811 2024
Hey Neighbor CO$246,939 Executive Director $39,875 $34,920 2024
Peak Research Institute CO$247,400 Treasurer $30,360 $26,587 2024
Onelife For Life Inc MI$247,631 President $61,644 $59,827 2023
Midcoast Literacy ME$239,926 Executive Director $42,498 $38,865 2024
Anewvista Community Services CA$248,249 President $51,200 $39,337 2025
Marion County Literacy Council Inc FL$249,959 Director $66,096 $55,246 2025
Gull Island Institute Inc MA$237,443 Clerk $41,600 $34,141 2024
Collaborative Law Institute Of Texas TX$237,143 Exec Director $76,546 $71,997 2023
Association For Machine Learning And Applications CA$251,017 Secretary $60,000 $47,318 2024
National Coalition For Dialogue & Deliberation PA$236,025 Executive Director $16,800 $15,753 2023
Kenosha Literacy Council WI$234,765 Executive Dir. $54,654 $50,786 2025
Run Hard Rest Well Inc IN$253,340 Executive Dir. $60,000 $59,494 2023
Literacy Volunteers Of Broome-tioga NY$233,980 Executive Director $49,448 $39,756 2025
Growing Oaks Association OK$232,819 Secretarytreasurer $73,000 $73,413 2024
International Mentoring Foundation For MA$256,372 President $20,750 $17,030 2024
Minnesota Teachers Of English To Speakers Of Other Languages MN$231,475 Executive Assistant $15,450 $13,943 2024
First Place 4 Health TX$257,264 Former Ceo $62,847 $57,416 2024
Echo Collective NE$257,406 Executive Director $38,780 $38,094 2024
Skyline Agility Club Inc NY$229,644 Former President $8,750 $7,221 2024
Destiny Builders Inc OK$228,764 President $87,000 $87,493 2024
Ethos Literacy NM$227,120 Executive Director $63,000 $61,885 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IA 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 IA 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 default95th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted95th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted91st

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 (John Kenyon) 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 132 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $108,323 is reasonable (approximately the 95th 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.