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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

City First Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 363812182
IL · NTEE A33Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rev Mark D Johnson, Executive Director / CEO ($54,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 304 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 92nd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Rev Mark D Johnson — reported title “EX. DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

304 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 304 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $453,424 $54,000
$3,47010th
$7,89025th
$18,319Median
$33,15175th
$48,71490th
$54,000This org · 92nd
p10$3,470
p25$7,890
p50$18,319
p75$33,151
p90$48,714
$54,000

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 IL 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
National Humanities Alliance DC$64,487 Executive Director $28,377 $26,077 2023
Culture Encounters VA$64,009 Founderexecutive Director $1,000 $982 2024
Grupo Folkorico De Pueblo Inc CO$64,002 Artistic Director $42,000 $40,964 2024
Mchenry Museum & Historical Society CA$64,708 Officer $71,227 $60,948 2025
Best Video Film And Cultural Center CT$64,729 Executive Di $34,399 $32,807 2024
Center For Civil War Photograp PA$63,774 Exec Director $5,400 $5,478 2024
The Francis Poulenc Trio Inc MD$63,664 Secretary/vice President $17,500 $17,133 2023
Indianapolis Movement Arts Collective IN$63,627 Director Of Movement Education $4,275 $4,586 2024
Maui Music Mission HI$64,941 Ceo $7,277 $6,823 2023
Korean Cultural Center Alaska AK$64,956 President $5,050 $4,911 2024
Noontime Concerts CA$63,570 Executive Director $103,757 $93,825 2023
Chamber Music Society Of New Paltz Inc NY$63,535 President $9,500 $8,990 2023
Westminster Preservation Trust Inc MD$63,453 President $13,000 $12,363 2024
The Bar Plan Foundation MO$65,171 President $47,885 $51,589 2024
Center For The Force Majeure Foundation CA$65,233 Chairman $15,747 $13,831 2024
The John P Parker Historical Society Inc OH$63,235 Docent $10,179 $11,291 2023
Interior And Arctic Alaska Aeronautical Foundation AK$65,366 Operations Director $29,959 $29,134 2024
The National Foundation For Musical MN$65,780 President $12,000 $12,417 2023
The Krenov Foundation CA$62,712 President $4,000 $3,617 2023
Ss Columbia Project NY$65,891 Chairwoman $20,000 $18,926 2023
Early Era Collective TX$62,422 Artistic Director $2,351 $2,462 2023
Hartford Preservation Alliance Inc CT$66,165 Executive Dir. $21,000 $20,619 2023
Waupaca Historical Society WI$66,228 Director $24,473 $25,998 2024
Ruskin Art Club Inc CA$62,321 Executive Dir. $33,662 $29,566 2024
Fermata Arts Foundation Inc CT$66,300 President $3,248 $3,189 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL 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 IL 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 default92nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)92nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted94th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted84th

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 (Rev Mark D Johnson) 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 304 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $54,000 is reasonable (approximately the 92nd 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.