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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Columbus Area Arts Council Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 351303466
IN · NTEE A26Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brooke Hawkins, Executive Director / CEO ($79,423) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 56 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 88th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Brooke Hawkins — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

56 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 56 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$482 total compensation of comparable organizations → $99,612 $79,423
$32,08910th
$43,24525th
$56,971Median
$68,10675th
$79,68190th
$79,423This org · 88th
p10$32,089
p25$43,245
p50$56,971
p75$68,106
p90$79,681
$79,423

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 IN 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
The Arts Council Of Pendleton Inc OR$406,602 Executive Direc $52,800 $47,870 2023
Bare Hands Gallery Inc AL$411,590 Executive Director $52,790 $54,080 2024
The Arts Council Inc FL$398,339 Executive Director $66,018 $58,810 2024
Charleston Artist Guild SC$396,366 Business Manager/director $45,177 $44,692 2024
Monroe Council Of The Arts Corporation FL$395,461 Executive Director $91,700 $81,688 2024
Newton Cultural Alliance Inc MA$391,524 Managing Director $50,000 $43,865 2023
Mclean County Arts Center IL$424,947 Executive Di $74,000 $68,987 2024
Arts Council Of Greenwood County SC$390,723 Executive Di $51,993 $51,435 2024
Central California Art League Inc CA$390,680 Secretary $45,676 $37,401 2024
York Art Association Inc PA$426,433 Executive Di $56,165 $53,112 2024
Riverside Arts Council CA$389,080 Secretary/exedi $100,000 $79,772 2025
Lancaster County Council Of The Arts SC$428,114 Executive Director $44,000 $43,528 2024
Brooklyn Arts Music Academy NC$385,194 Executive Di $47,480 $45,322 2025
Haywood County Arts Council Inc NC$382,460 Executive Di $43,270 $42,396 2024
Umpqua Valley Arts Association OR$433,852 Executive Di $69,800 $61,467 2024
Chicago Cultural Alliance IL$374,863 Executive Dir. $80,927 $75,445 2024
Empire Arts Center ND$445,124 Executive Director $52,402 $56,142 2023
Missoula Cultural Council MT$371,037 Executive Dir. $78,110 $79,842 2024
Islip Arts Council Inc NY$446,640 Executive Di $41,958 $35,953 2024
Allied Arts Of Whatcom County WA$366,470 Executive Director $84,828 $70,161 2025
Perry County Council Of The Arts PA$453,838 Executitive $50,927 $48,159 2024
Bossier Arts Council LA$357,335 Executive Di $34,833 $37,446 2023
Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council OR$354,565 Executive Director $42,444 $37,377 2024
Greater Denton Arts Council Inc TX$351,567 Director $71,000 $69,337 2023
Athabascan Fiddlers Association AK$466,579 President $3,550 $3,218 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IN 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 IN 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 default88th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)82nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted89th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

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 (Brooke Hawkins) 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 56 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A26), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $79,423 is reasonable (approximately the 88th 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.