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

Singing Cedars School Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 273665407
IA · NTEE B20
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Martha Sperry, Executive Director / CEO ($35,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 224 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 53rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Martha Sperry — reported title “BOARD MEMBER”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

224 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 224 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$140 total compensation of comparable organizations → $143,741 $35,000
$6,28110th
$16,24125th
$32,985Median
$53,83475th
$69,68590th
$35,000This org · 53rd
p10$6,281
p25$16,241
p50$32,985
p75$53,834
p90$69,685
$35,000

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 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
Silver Spruce Academy Inc CO$301,517 Executive Di $71,384 $60,720 2024
Saint Francis Montessori Christian TX$301,529 Director $39,900 $35,406 2024
Polska Szkola Im Sw Jana Pawla Ii Inc IL$302,206 Treasurer $1,300 $1,104 2025
Little River Community School NY$302,328 President/treasurer $34,330 $26,810 2025
Arecibo Baseball Academy Inc PR$299,223 President $31,050 $30,159 2024
Dry Fork Christian School Inc VA$298,615 President $36,603 $31,352 2024
The Potters House Foundation MI$304,008 Superintendent $11,545 $10,883 2023
Montgomery Area Court Referral Prog AL$305,406 Executive Di $83,404 $79,931 2024
Randolph Education Association Inc MA$295,784 President $7,000 $5,436 2025
Escuela Aurora Inc PR$292,982 President $31,040 $31,040 2023
Kings Way NY$292,461 Director Of Business $43,095 $33,655 2025
Preparatory School Of The District Of Columbia Inc DC$291,686 Executive Director $45,346 $36,342 2023
Austin Japanese School Inc TX$290,647 Administration $7,570 $6,544 2025
Ohio Christian Academy Inc OH$290,417 President $23,083 $21,688 2024
Alpine Valley School CO$311,837 Director $74,603 $63,459 2024
Advance Learning Academy GA$313,808 Pres/adminis $23,773 $21,831 2023
Atlanta Young Singers Of Callanwolde In GA$313,868 Executive Director $50,667 $45,192 2024
Florida Academy Of Excellence FL$287,206 President Chief Academic Officer $7,500 $6,250 2024
Annette Mains Ministries Inc IN$285,821 Elem Ed Dire $62,400 $58,375 2024
Knox Forest School TN$284,687 Director And Board President $55,720 $51,956 2024
Cohutta Arrows Kingdom Academy GA$317,459 President $19,167 $17,096 2024
Expatriate Education International IN$284,021 President & Ceo $14,400 $13,471 2024
Homeschool Christian Academy Inc MO$283,095 Executive Director $41,400 $37,896 2025
River Of Life School MI$318,788 Principal $105,400 $96,507 2024
Teach Our Children Fund Inc IN$319,004 Executive Di $60,296 $54,952 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IA cost of living and 2023 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 default53rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)47th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted55th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted51st

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 (Martha Sperry) 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 224 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $35,000 is reasonable (approximately the 53rd 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.