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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Southwest Symphony Orchestra

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 366149245
IL · NTEE A69Z
FY ending 2025-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of David Crane, Executive Director / CEO ($17,515) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 785 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 30th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: David Crane — reported title “Former 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

785 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 785 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$271 total compensation of comparable organizations → $465,421 $17,515
$4,88410th
$14,31025th
$30,846Median
$51,38575th
$69,42990th
$17,515This org · 30th
p10$4,884
p25$14,310
p50$30,846
p75$51,385
p90$69,429
$17,515

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
Francis Hardy Center For The Arts WI$127,870 Executive Director $50,000 $54,520 2024
Ihsaa Achieve Foundation IA$127,905 Executive Director $56,244 $64,298 2024
Jamaica Plain Arts And Civic Center MA$127,606 Executive Director $709 $665 2024
Museum Of Broadcast Communications IL$127,961 Chairman/treasurer/ceo $36,539 $37,506 2024
Cimarron Heritage Center OK$128,001 Director $30,000 $33,601 2025
The Classical Saxophone Project Inc NY$128,004 President $27,500 $25,946 2024
Musiconnects Inc MA$128,066 Executive Di $65,000 $59,413 2025
Winter Center For Indigenous NH$128,356 President $4,204 $4,344 2022
29 Pieces Amend TX$127,096 Executive Director $24,152 $25,969 2023
San Antonio Conservation Society TX$127,075 Executive Director $13,380 $14,387 2023
Magical Strings Of Youth Nfp IL$128,512 President $15,000 $15,852 2023
Woods Hole Film Festival Inc MA$127,022 Vice President/treasurer $46,731 $42,714 2025
The Living Bible Museum Inc OH$128,599 Trustee $12,020 $13,292 2024
Dance Films Association Inc NY$128,646 Executive Director $38,750 $37,639 2023
General John A Logan Museum IL$128,680 Executive Di $27,300 $28,850 2023
7 Rivers Alliance Inc WI$128,687 Executive Di $77,942 $84,988 2024
Museum Of The West Texas Frontier TX$128,710 Director $10,615 $11,087 2024
Southwest Seattle Historical Society WA$128,815 Executive Dir. $60,138 $56,215 2024
Chinese Seattle News WA$126,707 President $18,000 $16,392 2025
Owen News Project Inc IN$126,693 President $16,500 $18,168 2024
Destin Fishing Museum Foundati FL$126,655 Executive Dir $45,444 $44,573 2024
Wildstar Academy OR$128,981 Executive Director $6,000 $5,818 2024
Northern Ohio Children's Performing OH$129,032 Executive Director $64,419 $71,237 2024
Sst Productions CA$126,495 President $130,000 $117,204 2024
Amesbury Carriage Museum Inc MA$126,485 Executive Director $37,800 $35,465 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL 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 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 default30th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted32nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted27th

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 (David Crane) 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 785 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $17,515 is reasonable (approximately the 30th 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.