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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 320672396
HI · NTEE A20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jeninne Heleloa, Executive Director / CEO ($91,143) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 305 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: Jeninne Heleloa — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

305 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 305 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$315 total compensation of comparable organizations → $256,882 $91,143
$15,67710th
$37,77325th
$65,149Median
$85,57675th
$104,83090th
$91,143This org · 81st
p10$15,677
p25$37,773
p50$65,149
p75$85,576
p90$104,830
$91,143

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 HI 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
Equity Trust Inc MA$450,097 Executive Director $71,756 $72,021 2024
Monica Bill Barnes & Company Inc NY$449,169 Founder/artistic Director $105,761 $106,744 2024
Street Theory Collective MA$448,600 Clerk $110,400 $107,952 2025
Sacred Heart Cultural Center Inc GA$451,291 Executive Director $85,853 $96,418 2024
Scool Sounds Inc NY$447,788 Executive Dir. $70,702 $71,359 2024
Dynamo Studios TN$452,164 Executive Director $109,649 $128,734 2024
James Gang IA$453,059 Treasurer $10,891 $13,319 2024
The Primavera Fund PA$453,711 President An $68,239 $76,008 2024
Brady Craft Inc OK$444,373 Executive Director $67,446 $82,952 2024
Buchanan Center For The Arts IL$443,297 Executive Director $50,533 $57,129 2023
Tamarack Foundation Inc WV$443,135 Executive Director $74,131 $92,299 2023
Operation Song Inc TN$456,425 Current Executive Director/former Board Member $71,808 $86,797 2023
Art House Inc OH$457,186 Executive Di $57,250 $67,727 2024
Topa Institute CA$457,437 Ceo $109,298 $105,415 2024
Masspoetry Inc MA$457,856 Executive Di $90,157 $90,490 2024
Center For American Culture And Ideas AZ$440,867 Secretary $39,693 $43,897 2023
Chippewa Valley Cultural WI$458,863 Executive Di $77,032 $89,857 2024
Parent Child Relationship Association Inc NY$459,625 Executive Director $57,487 $58,021 2024
Thegifted Arts Inc NC$439,152 Founder, Ceo $87,246 $100,690 2024
Center For Latter-day Saint Arts Inc NY$438,859 Executive Director $144,410 $145,752 2024
World Around Inc NY$461,660 Executive Director $120,000 $124,692 2023
Artists For World Peace Inc CT$436,737 President $20,000 $20,945 2024
Marshall County Arts And Culture Allianc IA$462,713 Executive Director $85,000 $103,953 2024
1619 Freedom School IA$436,447 Vice President $39,252 $48,004 2024
Tidewater Arts Outreach VA$463,432 Executive Di $62,199 $65,350 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI 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 HI 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)88th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted74th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted80th

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 (Jeninne Heleloa) 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 305 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $91,143 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.