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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Minnesota Opera

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 410946789
MN · NTEE A6A0
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ryan Taylor, Executive Director / CEO ($278,267) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 300 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 52nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Ryan Taylor — reported title “President & General Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

300 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 300 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$20,073 total compensation of comparable organizations → $884,750 $278,267
$129,60310th
$198,27025th
$270,723Median
$338,22875th
$448,11190th
$278,267This org · 52nd
p10$129,603
p25$198,270
p50$270,723
p75$338,228
p90$448,111
$278,267

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 MN 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
Eleutherian Mills-hagley Foundation Inc DE$13,792,052 Executive Director $246,290 $244,058 2024
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra NY$13,795,014 President/executive Direct $341,854 $312,625 2024
The Phillips Collection DC$13,695,996 Vradenburg Director & Ceo $355,137 $315,392 2024
The Nasher Sculpture Center TX$13,857,309 Executive Director $505,118 $526,458 2023
Geffen Playhouse Inc CA$13,620,402 Executive Director $291,316 $262,098 2023
🔒 295 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN 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 MN 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 default52nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)52nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted54th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted50th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 300-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.