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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Cleveland Rocks Past Present And Future

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 454532432
OH · NTEE A68
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cindy Barber, Executive Director / CEO ($15,600) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 83 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 27th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Cindy Barber — reported title “Key Employee”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

83 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 83 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$974 total compensation of comparable organizations → $137,798 $15,600
$8,24710th
$15,09825th
$29,658Median
$42,39475th
$57,95190th
$15,600This org · 27th
p10$8,247
p25$15,098
p50$29,658
p75$42,394
p90$57,951
$15,600

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 OH 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
Bach Aria Soloists Inc MO$160,884 Executive Artistic Director $58,099 $58,099 2023
Seasun Theatre Artist Group CA$157,161 Director $6,940 $5,658 2023
One Heart Beat Inc GA$156,857 Co-founder & Executive Dir $50,000 $46,105 2024
Oil Region Music Preservation Museum PA$162,981 Director $42,000 $38,410 2024
C'est Bon Music Inc CA$156,557 Ceo $14,300 $11,324 2024
Beale Street Caravan Inc TN$163,951 Exec. Dir. $48,750 $48,381 2023
Alleghany Jam NC$155,028 Executive Director $53,791 $49,657 2025
International Association Of Music Libraries Archives &Documentation WI$164,970 Secretary General $2,165 $2,074 2024
Detroit Performing Artists Inc MI$153,760 Executive Di $21,186 $20,646 2023
Camfel Productions Inc CA$166,635 President $53,677 $42,506 2024
St Marys Music Academy NC$170,173 Director $33,000 $31,270 2024
Tunefoolery Music Inc MA$170,482 Sec. (From 11/2024) (Treas. Prior)/co-exec. Dir. $13,060 $10,485 2025
Women In The Arts Inc National Womens IL$170,731 President $2,800 $2,599 2023
The Coleman Chamber Music Association CA$171,101 Executive Director $85,273 $67,527 2024
Indexical Inc CA$171,200 Executive Di $48,954 $38,766 2024
Texas Early Music Project TX$172,531 Artistic Director $24,550 $26,070 2021
Songs Of Solomon An Inspirational Ensemble Inc NY$146,131 President $24,412 $20,827 2023
Laguna Beach Live CA$174,133 Ceo $42,000 $33,259 2024
Composers Now Inc NY$145,117 Board Chair Artistic Director $34,275 $28,403 2024
Alabama June Jam Inc AL$180,835 Executive Officer $75,000 $72,389 2025
Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation DC$181,291 Executive Di $46,519 $38,542 2023
York County Honors Choirs Inc PA$137,484 Executive Director $26,000 $23,778 2024
Roots Of American Music OH$183,683 Executive Di $70,000 $67,992 2024
William Lewis School Of Opera TX$135,149 Vice President $36,000 $33,024 2024
Hill Country Youth Orchestras Inc TX$185,192 Executive Director $41,166 $37,764 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OH 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 OH 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 default27th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)23rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted28th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted27th

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 (Cindy Barber) 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 83 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $15,600 is reasonable (approximately the 27th 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.