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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Cardboard Playhouse Theatre Company

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 452591227
NM · NTEE A65
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Doug Montoya, Executive Director / CEO ($24,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 263 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 42nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Doug Montoya — reported title “Co-Artistic 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

263 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 263 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$626 total compensation of comparable organizations → $98,488 $24,500
$4,26010th
$13,34525th
$30,803Median
$45,84575th
$56,54490th
$24,500This org · 42nd
p10$4,260
p25$13,345
p50$30,803
p75$45,845
p90$56,544
$24,500

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 NM 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
Hopewell Valley Children's Theatre Inc NJ$244,506 Executive Director $21,867 $17,632 2024
City Lit Theatre Company IL$244,530 Artistic Dir $22,308 $19,806 2024
Garrison Players Inc NH$244,611 President $3,000 $2,437 2025
Notch Theatre Company NY$245,219 President/artistic Director $50,000 $40,803 2024
Oye Palaver Hut Inc DC$245,225 Executive Director $24,000 $19,019 2024
New York Theatre Barn Incorporated NY$245,252 General Manager $4,500 $3,781 2023
Poetry Society Of New York Inc NY$248,150 Chair, Treasurer & C.e.o. $48,700 $39,742 2024
Ripple Productions WA$248,443 Co-executive Artistic Director $69,672 $56,332 2024
The Newnan Community Theatre GA$248,684 Executive Di $46,500 $41,135 2025
Broken Box Mime Theater NY$248,740 Artistic Director $77,258 $64,908 2023
Eta Creative Arts Foundation IL$249,064 Executive Director $75,000 $68,554 2023
Aiken Performing Arts Group Inc SC$249,120 Executive Director $30,037 $27,569 2025
Brightside Theatre Inc IL$249,762 Artistic Director $20,175 $18,441 2023
Hell In A Handbag Productions IL$250,289 Treasurer $43,531 $38,648 2024
Theatre Off Jackson WA$250,342 Executive Director $60,833 $50,638 2023
Exposed Brick Theatre MN$238,127 Co-artistic Director $55,000 $50,528 2023
Act Out Theatre Company CA$237,977 Executive Director $51,923 $40,490 2024
Looking For Lilith KY$237,210 Co-artistic Director $23,142 $21,875 2025
Le Chat Noir Inc GA$236,621 Secretary $40,000 $37,394 2023
Pipeline Theatre Company Inc NY$236,519 Artist Trustee $10,122 $8,047 2025
Common Ground Theatre CA$252,965 Artist Director $30,280 $23,612 2024
Schaumburg On Stage IL$253,256 Program Dire $6,587 $5,848 2024
Roanoke Childrens Theatre Inc VA$235,675 Executive Dir. $4,950 $4,316 2024
Dreams Of Hope PA$254,163 Former Officer $63,402 $58,785 2023
Corsicana Community Playhouse Inc TX$254,265 Exc Dir $30,805 $27,828 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NM cost of living and 2023 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 NM 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 default42nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)39th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted42nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted42nd

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 Montoya) 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 263 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $24,500 is reasonable (approximately the 42nd 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.