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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Capital City Film Festival

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 273790141
MI · NTEE A31
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Payal Ravani, Executive Director / CEO ($1,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 55 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 0th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

55 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 55 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,381 total compensation of comparable organizations → $189,803 $1,500
$8,88510th
$25,04225th
$46,738Median
$69,95775th
$106,88890th
$1,500This org · 0th
p10$8,885
p25$25,042
p50$46,738
p75$69,957
p90$106,888
$1,500

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 MI 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
Monterey County Film Commission CA$238,200 Film Commissioner $92,898 $77,718 2023
National Center For Jewish Film Inc MA$242,373 Co Director $95,000 $82,708 2023
Hollywood In Pixels Inc CA$243,170 President/chair $8,300 $6,745 2024
Reel Earth Films AZ$230,403 Executive Director $26,143 $24,359 2023
Myth Media OR$247,747 Executive Dir $28,182 $23,994 2025
Hasan History Arts And Science Action VA$227,178 Co-president $11,000 $10,290 2023
Women Photographers International Archive Inc FL$248,525 President $50,010 $44,210 2024
Mezcla Media Collective Ltd IL$225,813 Executive Dir. $38,400 $35,525 2024
Appian Media Resources Inc IN$225,777 President/se $22,291 $22,775 2023
Make Your Mark Media Inc MD$251,060 Employee $125,700 $113,855 2023
Cinema Tropical Inc NY$252,198 Dir/officer $89,000 $73,730 2025
Screamfest Horror Film Festival CA$253,413 Co-director $41,600 $34,802 2023
Filmmakers United CA$221,196 President $44,780 $36,387 2024
Eastland Fine Arts Association TX$254,741 Coo $53,247 $51,604 2023
Clarity Educational Productions Inc CA$256,270 President $90,000 $75,293 2023
Aurora Picture Show TX$258,263 Executive Director $49,650 $46,738 2024
The Lighthouse International Film NY$216,662 Director $8,000 $6,802 2024
San Francisco Independent Film Festival CA$216,359 Director $40,000 $32,503 2024
Black Photographers Union CA$216,115 President $9,500 $7,948 2023
Mirabel Pictures CA$262,326 President $56,000 $46,849 2023
The New American Cinema Group Inc NY$212,460 Executive Director $34,849 $30,509 2023
San Francisco Cinematheque CA$209,336 Exec. Dir./dir. $76,286 $61,989 2024
Artrageous IN$206,973 President $32,400 $32,153 2024
Worldwide Documentaries Inc NY$204,492 President $30,000 $26,264 2023
Cinemama CA$273,475 President $7,380 $6,174 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI 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 MI 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 default0th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)0th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted0th

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 (Payal Ravani) 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 55 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $1,500 is reasonable (approximately the 0th 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.