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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Mclean County Arts Center

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 376032342
IL · NTEE A260
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Doug Johnson, Executive Director / CEO ($74,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 55 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Doug Johnson — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

55 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 55 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,452 total compensation of comparable organizations → $106,850 $74,000
$38,51010th
$46,08425th
$60,222Median
$73,34275th
$85,61490th
$74,000This org · 75th
p10$38,510
p25$46,084
p50$60,222
p75$73,342
p90$85,614
$74,000

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
York Art Association Inc PA$426,433 Executive Di $56,165 $56,971 2024
Lancaster County Council Of The Arts SC$428,114 Executive Director $44,000 $46,691 2024
Umpqua Valley Arts Association OR$433,852 Executive Di $69,800 $65,933 2024
Bare Hands Gallery Inc AL$411,590 Executive Director $52,790 $58,010 2024
Columbus Area Arts Council Inc IN$408,144 Executive Director $79,423 $85,195 2024
The Arts Council Of Pendleton Inc OR$406,602 Executive Direc $52,800 $51,349 2023
Empire Arts Center ND$445,124 Executive Director $52,402 $60,222 2023
Islip Arts Council Inc NY$446,640 Executive Di $41,958 $38,565 2024
The Arts Council Inc FL$398,339 Executive Director $66,018 $63,084 2024
Charleston Artist Guild SC$396,366 Business Manager/director $45,177 $47,940 2024
Perry County Council Of The Arts PA$453,838 Executitive $50,927 $51,658 2024
Monroe Council Of The Arts Corporation FL$395,461 Executive Director $91,700 $87,624 2024
Newton Cultural Alliance Inc MA$391,524 Managing Director $50,000 $47,052 2023
Arts Council Of Greenwood County SC$390,723 Executive Di $51,993 $55,173 2024
Central California Art League Inc CA$390,680 Secretary $45,676 $40,119 2024
Riverside Arts Council CA$389,080 Secretary/exedi $100,000 $85,569 2025
Brooklyn Arts Music Academy NC$385,194 Executive Di $47,480 $48,615 2025
Athabascan Fiddlers Association AK$466,579 President $3,550 $3,452 2024
Haywood County Arts Council Inc NC$382,460 Executive Di $43,270 $45,477 2024
Ventura County Arts Council CA$473,310 Executive Directoroperations $79,990 $72,333 2023
Chicago Cultural Alliance IL$374,863 Executive Dir. $80,927 $80,927 2024
Missoula Cultural Council MT$371,037 Executive Dir. $78,110 $85,644 2024
Newport News Public Art Foundation VA$480,146 Executive Director $30,919 $30,366 2024
Allied Arts Of Whatcom County WA$366,470 Executive Director $84,828 $75,260 2025
Greene County Council On The Arts NY$486,890 Executive Director $73,488 $67,546 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 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)75th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted75th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Doug 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 55 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A26), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $74,000 is reasonable (approximately the 75th 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.