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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 275553072
FL · NTEE A68
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Shawn Gonzalez, Executive Director / CEO ($41,958) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 188 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 42nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

188 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 188 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$117 total compensation of comparable organizations → $133,161 $41,958
$13,98610th
$29,95225th
$48,653Median
$68,53975th
$89,29490th
$41,958This org · 42nd
p10$13,986
p25$29,952
p50$48,653
p75$68,539
p90$89,294
$41,958

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 FL 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
Moon & Stars Foundation CO$326,461 Executive Director $40,498 $39,116 2025
Braver Players Musical Theater Foundation CA$326,173 President $50,000 $44,641 2024
Danbury Music Centre CT$327,415 President $14,615 $13,803 2025
Overture Band Programs Inc WI$325,285 President/treas. $72,755 $76,537 2025
Mount Desert Festival Of Chamber Music ME$325,266 Executive Director $13,140 $14,006 2023
Make Music Alliance Inc NY$328,374 Executive Director $9,692 $8,822 2025
Goat In The Road Productions LA$329,022 Co-artistic Director $52,916 $58,693 2025
Cellobello Inc MA$323,408 Executive Director $101,952 $94,725 2024
Master Musicians Festival Inc KY$323,246 Executive Di $54,799 $60,873 2024
Anthology Of Recorded Music Inc NY$330,999 Vice President & Secretary $112,450 $108,165 2023
Market Square Concerts PA$321,305 Co-director $32,000 $32,144 2025
Music In The Somerset Hills Inc NJ$318,720 Artistic Director $65,141 $60,135 2024
United States Open Music Competition CA$318,411 President $1,000 $893 2024
Rain City Rock Camp For Girls WA$317,881 Executive Dir. $76,489 $70,806 2024
Kelly Music For Life PA$336,039 President $39,000 $40,212 2024
Keys Corp NY$316,049 Executive Director $43,378 $41,725 2023
Music At Kohl Mansion Inc CA$336,836 Exec. Dir. $90,417 $83,110 2023
Virginia Chamber Music Foundation VA$337,034 Coartistic Director $8,000 $7,986 2024
Academie Musique TX$338,017 Director $45,743 $46,091 2025
Academy Of Neurologic Music Therapy CO$338,999 Director $60,925 $60,403 2024
Baton Rouge Blues Festival & Foundation LA$313,533 Executive Director $72,000 $81,972 2024
St Louis Cathedral Concerts MO$340,628 Executive Dir. $71,798 $78,626 2024
Los Pleneros De La 21 Inc NY$340,822 Executive Director $91,006 $85,027 2024
Idaho Music Educators Association Inc ID$311,720 Executive Director (Non-voting) $21,000 $23,098 2024
Indianapolis Mens Chorus Incorporated IN$343,096 Executive Director $85,000 $90,291 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to FL 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 FL 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 default42nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)41st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted44th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted41st

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 (Shawn Gonzalez) 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 188 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $41,958 is reasonable (approximately the 42nd 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.