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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Monroe Arts Center Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 391209502
WI · NTEE A200
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kathy Hennessy, Executive Director / CEO ($76,184) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 306 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Kathy Hennessy — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

306 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 306 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$270 total compensation of comparable organizations → $220,219 $76,184
$11,99310th
$32,03825th
$53,411Median
$70,88275th
$86,87390th
$76,184This org · 81st
p10$11,993
p25$32,038
p50$53,411
p75$70,882
p90$86,873
$76,184

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 WI 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
Folk Arts Center Of New England Inc MA$428,717 Executive Director $78,992 $67,968 2024
Texas Folklife Resources TX$428,750 Executive Director $140,000 $138,055 2023
Rochester Folk Art Guild Inc NY$427,098 Treasurer $15,000 $13,362 2023
Bulk Space MI$424,846 Director $34,562 $34,158 2024
Main Street Arts Inc NY$424,719 Executive Director & Curat $81,818 $72,884 2023
Hiddenite Center Inc NC$431,778 Executive Di $35,155 $33,885 2025
The Scarab Club MI$431,923 Executive Di $64,692 $65,825 2023
Visionaries Of The Creative Arts DC$432,489 President $63,250 $53,146 2024
Legion Arts Inc IA$433,232 Executive Director $13,295 $13,939 2024
Backyard Kids Theater Inc CA$433,929 Executive Dir. $50,000 $41,341 2024
Alma Lewis PA$435,147 Executive Director $98,610 $96,941 2023
Arhoolie Foundation CA$420,830 Executive Dir. $60,451 $51,459 2023
1619 Freedom School IA$436,447 Vice President $39,252 $41,153 2024
Artists For World Peace Inc CT$436,737 President $20,000 $17,956 2024
Remix Education Inc KY$418,211 Vice President $69,600 $73,715 2023
Black Mountain Swannanoa Valley Arts Center NC$417,832 Executive Director $72,000 $73,339 2023
Center For Latter-day Saint Arts Inc NY$438,859 Executive Director $144,410 $124,950 2024
Borrego Art Institute CA$417,523 Vice President $32,820 $27,136 2024
Thegifted Arts Inc NC$439,152 Founder, Ceo $87,246 $86,319 2024
Performing Arts And Science Academy Pasa SC$416,091 Executive Director $41,921 $41,876 2024
Center For American Culture And Ideas AZ$440,867 Secretary $39,693 $37,631 2023
Creative Santa Fe NM$413,644 Executive Director $109,583 $116,190 2023
Bay Area Country Dance Society CA$413,563 Board Chair $1,694 $1,401 2024
Tamarack Foundation Inc WV$443,135 Executive Director $74,131 $79,126 2023
Buchanan Center For The Arts IL$443,297 Executive Director $50,533 $48,975 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WI 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 WI 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)77th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted79th

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 (Kathy Hennessy) 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 306 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $76,184 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.