Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Merrill Arts Center

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 411833999
MN · NTEE A20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Barbe Marshall Hansen, Executive Director / CEO ($60,439) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 248 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 78th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

248 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 248 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$354 total compensation of comparable organizations → $289,993 $60,439
$8,31310th
$21,72625th
$41,246Median
$58,19275th
$73,11390th
$60,439This org · 78th
p10$8,313
p25$21,726
p50$41,246
p75$58,192
p90$73,113
$60,439

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
Astoria Film Festival Inc NY$214,985 Founding Director $45,000 $41,152 2024
Urasenke Foundation Of California CA$216,878 Ceo / Dir $69,840 $61,032 2024
Grow Mongolia Inc VA$217,657 President Ceo $68,500 $68,912 2023
Genryu Arts CA$217,841 President $54,000 $48,584 2023
Lyrical Opposition CA$219,086 Board Member $22,500 $20,244 2023
Friends Of Hauberg Civic Center Foundation IL$212,274 Executive Director $51,312 $52,561 2023
The North Carolina Association For The NC$212,096 Executive Director $63,835 $65,032 2025
Angelica Center For Arts And Music CA$220,167 Program Directo $27,187 $23,758 2024
Helping Our People Evolve Incorporated NY$220,341 Executive Director $19,198 $17,557 2024
The Henry Kapono Foundation HI$211,031 Secretary $1,400 $1,306 2023
Gloucester Writers Center Inc MA$211,029 Executive Director $43,680 $40,897 2023
Blue Mountains Projects Inc NY$210,903 Executive Director $88,500 $80,933 2024
The Vanport Mosaic OR$220,712 Director $103,725 $97,484 2024
Danville Business Alliance PA$210,384 Executive Director $52,500 $54,550 2023
Barn Opera Inc VT$210,088 Artistic Direct $29,792 $30,347 2024
Society For Indo-american Arts TX$209,892 Executive Director $35,000 $36,479 2023
Bunker Projects Inc PA$221,994 Executive Di $30,000 $30,277 2024
Amiable Arts Foundation MS$222,009 Executive Director $132,000 $153,178 2023
General Baker Institute MI$208,851 Executive Director $66,193 $71,186 2023
Monarch Music & Arts Community KY$222,769 President $46,000 $50,015 2024
Irish Music School Of Chicago IL$208,516 President $67,770 $67,427 2024
Rhizome Dc DC$223,504 Director, Trustee $46,128 $42,175 2023
The Genesis Collective Inc PA$207,690 Executive Dir. $45,833 $46,256 2024
Escuela Mayaguezana De Ballet PR$223,807 Incorporator $29,335 $30,201 2023
Black Violin Foundation Inc FL$223,842 President $19,500 $19,087 2023

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 default78th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)78th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted79th
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 (Barbe Marshall Hansen) 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 248 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,439 is reasonable (approximately the 78th 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.