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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Asheville Music School Sound Education

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 455325308
NC · NTEE A68
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ryan Reardon, Executive Director / CEO ($43,403) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 164 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 55th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Ryan Reardon — reported title “Ex Officio”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

164 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 164 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$113 total compensation of comparable organizations → $149,270 $43,403
$10,70510th
$22,41025th
$40,882Median
$60,50375th
$82,62990th
$43,403This org · 55th
p10$10,705
p25$22,410
p50$40,882
p75$60,503
p90$82,629
$43,403

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 NC 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
Campbell Learning Center Inc TX$246,185 Director $58,994 $60,356 2023
Contemporaneous Inc NY$249,614 Director $30,057 $26,981 2024
Mallarme Chamber Players Inc NC$249,676 Artistic Director $77,004 $79,041 2024
Colorado Music Bridge CO$245,716 Co-exec Director $18,000 $17,653 2023
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $38,216 2024
Montana Chamber Music Society MT$249,956 Director $108 $113 2025
Asociacion Suzuki De Puerto Rico Inc PR$244,801 Administrator $35,132 $36,062 2024
Crescendo Inc CT$241,857 Founding And Artistic Director $30,000 $27,943 2024
American Harp Society Inc MA$254,201 Executive Director $59,600 $54,776 2023
Guardians Of Sound PA$254,493 Executive Director $48,200 $47,750 2024
Poss Music Works Nfp IL$240,849 Executive Director $20,000 $19,029 2025
Sound Impact VA$240,775 Secretary $32,945 $32,534 2023
Opus Community Music School Inc MD$254,890 Executive Director/teacher $47,417 $44,039 2024
Ansonia Music Outreach Organization Inc NY$240,243 President $44,974 $40,372 2024
The Mundi Project UT$239,581 Executive Di $46,910 $47,695 2024
Queen Bee Music Association NM$239,253 Executive Dir. $38,457 $41,091 2024
Ten Sleepless Knights Inc VI$239,048 President $8,380 $8,856 2023
Dallas Bach Society TX$238,812 Executive Director $20,000 $20,462 2023
Music Is Art NY$238,547 Executive Director $69,216 $62,133 2024
Mencius Society For The Arts Inc NY$256,991 Executive Di $34,793 $30,428 2025
Songfest Inc OH$238,320 President $71,250 $74,967 2024
St Louis Classical Guitar MO$237,684 Executive Director $66,462 $71,996 2023
Music In Place CA$258,414 Mkting Adm Off. $39,708 $34,062 2024
Oregon Mozart Players OR$236,572 Executive Di $25,000 $22,469 2025
Bach Beethoven & Brahms Society Of Boston Inc MA$236,272 Director $1,803 $1,568 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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 default55th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)51st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted55th

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 (Ryan Reardon) 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 164 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $43,403 is reasonable (approximately the 55th 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.