Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Julie Montgomery, Executive Director / CEO ($65,291) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 140 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range
Benchmarked executive: Julie Montgomery — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 OH cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilmer Arts & Heritage Association | GA | $406,349 | Excutive Director | $48,000 | $44,261 | 2024 |
| Riverside Arts Center Foundation Inc | MI | $405,796 | Executive Dir. | $88,580 | $83,847 | 2024 |
| Child Hope International | CA | $410,405 | Executive Director | $94,738 | $75,022 | 2024 |
| Luminary Arts Corporation | CA | $410,560 | President | $60,331 | $47,775 | 2024 |
| Hot House West | UT | $402,831 | Executive Di | $22,936 | $21,528 | 2024 |
| Music Export Memphis | TN | $412,991 | Executive Director. | $90,857 | $87,582 | 2024 |
| Beaches Fine Arts Series Inc | FL | $401,211 | Executive Di | $81,764 | $68,625 | 2025 |
| Mondo Bizarro Productions | LA | $414,694 | Executive Director | $7,000 | $7,277 | 2023 |
| Theater Reaching Young People & Schools | MO | $417,834 | Executive Artistic Director | $45,000 | $43,709 | 2024 |
| Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra | CA | $396,157 | Music Direcotr | $35,730 | $27,564 | 2025 |
| New York Mills Arts Retreat | MN | $395,859 | Exec Directo | $46,833 | $43,692 | 2023 |
| Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation Corp | NY | $418,930 | Chairman | $109,334 | $93,279 | 2023 |
| Celebration Arts | CA | $392,684 | Executive Director | $32,083 | $25,406 | 2024 |
| Steel River Playhouse Inc | PA | $392,567 | Artistic Dir | $25,000 | $23,538 | 2023 |
| Roshni | CO | $423,743 | Executive/artistic Director | $99,000 | $87,056 | 2024 |
| Conundrum Theatre Company Inc | CA | $424,860 | Executive Direc | $88,720 | $70,256 | 2024 |
| No Surf House | OH | $389,127 | President | $22,000 | $21,369 | 2024 |
| The Gilbert Theater Inc | NC | $388,639 | Artistic Director | $24,000 | $22,741 | 2024 |
| Katia And Company Inc | CA | $427,041 | President | $1,800 | $1,467 | 2023 |
| Del Sol Performing Arts | CA | $386,620 | Assistant Se | $42,815 | $34,906 | 2023 |
| Yaa Samar Dance Theatre | NY | $386,500 | Executive Director | $52,400 | $43,423 | 2024 |
| Portland Taiko | OR | $430,188 | Board Member | $1,025 | $873 | 2024 |
| Urban Music Theatre Inc | IN | $430,269 | Executive Director/vice Chairman | $40,000 | $38,683 | 2024 |
| Cincinnati Children's Choir | OH | $431,289 | Executive Director | $44,425 | $42,038 | 2025 |
| Young Dance Inc | MN | $381,260 | Executive Director | $34,840 | $32,503 | 2023 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OH cost of living and 2023 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 OH 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 81st |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 74th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 83rd |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 80th |
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.
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
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.