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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

29 Pieces Amend

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 342038797
TX · NTEE A70
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Blessen, Executive Director / CEO ($24,152) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 780 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 44th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

780 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 780 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$251 total compensation of comparable organizations → $432,846 $24,152
$4,54710th
$13,34725th
$28,622Median
$47,50475th
$64,53290th
$24,152This org · 44th
p10$4,547
p25$13,347
p50$28,622
p75$47,504
p90$64,532
$24,152

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 TX 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
San Antonio Conservation Society TX$127,075 Executive Director $13,380 $13,380 2023
Woods Hole Film Festival Inc MA$127,022 Vice President/treasurer $46,731 $39,724 2025
Chinese Seattle News WA$126,707 President $18,000 $15,245 2025
Owen News Project Inc IN$126,693 President $16,500 $16,896 2024
Destin Fishing Museum Foundati FL$126,655 Executive Dir $45,444 $41,453 2024
Jamaica Plain Arts And Civic Center MA$127,606 Executive Director $709 $619 2024
Sst Productions CA$126,495 President $130,000 $109,000 2024
Amesbury Carriage Museum Inc MA$126,485 Executive Director $37,800 $32,983 2024
Southwest Symphony Orchestra IL$127,769 Former Director $17,515 $16,289 2025
Francis Hardy Center For The Arts WI$127,870 Executive Director $50,000 $50,705 2024
Ihsaa Achieve Foundation IA$127,905 Executive Director $56,244 $59,798 2024
Museum Of Broadcast Communications IL$127,961 Chairman/treasurer/ceo $36,539 $34,881 2024
Magnes Museum Foundation CA$126,193 Director, Secretary $20,421 $17,122 2024
Cimarron Heritage Center OK$128,001 Director $30,000 $31,249 2025
The Classical Saxophone Project Inc NY$128,004 President $27,500 $24,129 2024
Listening Point Foundation MN$126,150 Executive Director $24,960 $24,656 2023
Musiconnects Inc MA$128,066 Executive Di $65,000 $55,255 2025
The Star Spangled Banner MD$126,011 Executive Director $56,923 $51,675 2024
Cca North Corporation NH$126,000 Vice-president $11,414 $10,234 2024
Masscreative Inc MA$125,953 Executive Di $83,203 $72,600 2024
Winter Center For Indigenous NH$128,356 President $4,204 $4,039 2022
Life On Art CA$125,745 Executive Director (Start 7/2024) $76,154 $63,852 2024
Magical Strings Of Youth Nfp IL$128,512 President $15,000 $14,742 2023
500 Sails MP$125,662 Executive Dir. $61,475 $59,711 2024
The Golandsky Institute Inc NY$125,617 President $16,635 $15,027 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TX 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 TX 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 default44th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)42nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted45th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted40th

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 (Karen Blessen) 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 780 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $24,152 is reasonable (approximately the 44th 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.