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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Montana Chamber Music Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 364740761
MT · NTEE A68
FY ending 2025-04-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Noah Certalic, Executive Director / CEO ($108) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 166 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 0th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Noah Certalic — reported title “DIRECTOR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

166 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 166 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$537 total compensation of comparable organizations → $143,084 $108
$10,41910th
$22,10625th
$39,300Median
$57,92675th
$79,07490th
$108This org · 0th
p10$10,419
p25$22,106
p50$39,300
p75$57,926
p90$79,074
$108

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 MT 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
Mallarme Chamber Players Inc NC$249,676 Artistic Director $77,004 $75,765 2024
Contemporaneous Inc NY$249,614 Director $30,057 $25,863 2024
Asheville Music School Sound Education NC$247,759 Ex Officio $43,403 $41,604 2025
Campbell Learning Center Inc TX$246,185 Director $58,994 $57,854 2023
Colorado Music Bridge CO$245,716 Co-exec Director $18,000 $16,921 2023
American Harp Society Inc MA$254,201 Executive Director $59,600 $52,506 2023
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $36,632 2024
Guardians Of Sound PA$254,493 Executive Director $48,200 $45,771 2024
Opus Community Music School Inc MD$254,890 Executive Director/teacher $47,417 $42,214 2024
Asociacion Suzuki De Puerto Rico Inc PR$244,801 Administrator $35,132 $36,062 2024
Mencius Society For The Arts Inc NY$256,991 Executive Di $34,793 $29,167 2025
Crescendo Inc CT$241,857 Founding And Artistic Director $30,000 $26,785 2024
Music In Place CA$258,414 Mkting Adm Off. $39,708 $32,651 2024
Poss Music Works Nfp IL$240,849 Executive Director $20,000 $18,241 2025
Sound Impact VA$240,775 Secretary $32,945 $31,186 2023
Rock Central Inc WI$259,349 Executive Di $18,886 $18,782 2024
Ansonia Music Outreach Organization Inc NY$240,243 President $44,974 $38,699 2024
The Mundi Project UT$239,581 Executive Di $46,910 $45,718 2024
Etm-massachusetts Inc MA$260,492 Exective Director $94,688 $83,417 2023
Queen Bee Music Association NM$239,253 Executive Dir. $38,457 $39,388 2024
Ten Sleepless Knights Inc VI$239,048 President $8,380 $8,856 2023
Dallas Bach Society TX$238,812 Executive Director $20,000 $19,614 2023
Music Is Art NY$238,547 Executive Director $69,216 $59,558 2024
Songfest Inc OH$238,320 President $71,250 $71,860 2024
Border Crossing MN$261,798 Exec Director $85,906 $78,747 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT cost of living and 2025 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 MT 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 default0th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)0th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted1st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted0th

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 (Noah Certalic) 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 166 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $108 is reasonable (approximately the 0th 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.