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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Vessel For Arts

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 453697190
MI · NTEE P20
FY ending 2025-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brad Garnaat, Executive Director / CEO ($88,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 39 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 72nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Brad Garnaat — reported title “President and Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

39 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 39 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$6,475 total compensation of comparable organizations → $145,920 $88,500
$20,64310th
$34,89025th
$55,580Median
$91,35575th
$105,70290th
$88,500This org · 72nd
p10$20,643
p25$34,890
p50$55,580
p75$91,355
p90$105,702
$88,500

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 MI 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
Confident Sole MI$411,963 Executive Di $90,000 $92,381 2024
The Diaper Alliance Inc MI$422,285 Interim Dire $30,000 $31,703 2023
Harvest Retreat Drop-in Center Inc MI$427,316 President $17,500 $17,963 2024
Jompeame Foundation MI$437,164 President $27,000 $27,714 2024
Love Inc Of The Greater Livingston MI$392,813 Executive Di $44,577 $47,108 2023
St Suzanne Code Rouge Community MI$443,052 Project Dire $39,192 $41,417 2023
Better Wiser Stronger Inc MI$447,400 Executive Director $28,800 $30,435 2023
Living With Communities MI$450,129 President $6,127 $6,475 2023
Clara's Hope MI$372,046 Founder & Director $20,514 $21,057 2024
Washtenaw Care-based Safety MI$464,147 Co-director $112,800 $115,785 2024
Core City Neighborhoods Inc MI$368,318 Executive Director $39,327 $40,368 2024
Soaring Unlimited MI$362,396 Executive Director $38,240 $39,252 2024
Residents In Action Llc MI$361,832 Executive Di $25,000 $25,661 2024
Education For Liberation Network MI$358,855 Executive Dir. $91,036 $96,205 2023
Life Line Ministries No 2 MI$356,049 President $54,096 $55,527 2024
Southeastern Dispute Resolution Ser MI$343,767 Executive Director $93,712 $96,191 2024
Tomas Venture Residence Ltd MI$343,563 President $99,424 $105,069 2023
Stand With Trans MI$496,182 Executive Director $92,003 $94,437 2024
The Human Utility MI$335,162 Executive Director $138,080 $145,920 2023
Mi Work Matters MI$329,101 Executive Di $68,077 $69,878 2024
The Lucas Project MI$317,067 Executive Di $48,000 $50,725 2023
Oaks Village MI$517,474 Secretary $35,100 $43,672 2020
Oasis Of Hope Center MI$315,411 Executive Di $18,500 $18,989 2024
Lfe Leaders Inc MI$519,240 Executive Di $83,345 $85,550 2024
Reaching Higher Inc MI$520,621 Director $63,638 $65,322 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI cost of living and 2025 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 MI 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 default72nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)72nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted74th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted67th

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 (Brad Garnaat) 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 39 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (P20) + MI + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $88,500 is reasonable (approximately the 72nd 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.