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

Valley Of The Moon Observatory Association

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 470877393
CA · NTEE A57
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Stephanie Derammelaere, Executive Director / CEO ($85,453) against the 2000 closest of 2,215 comparable organizations — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Stephanie Derammelaere — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

2,215 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 2,000 within the band form the benchmarked peer set (closest by budget).

Distribution of comparable compensation

$24 total compensation of comparable organizations → $331,841 $85,453
$7,31510th
$22,58625th
$44,452Median
$66,63775th
$87,40390th
$85,453This org · 89th
p10$7,315
p25$22,586
p50$44,452
p75$66,637
p90$87,403
$85,453

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 CA 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
New Orleans Hispanic Heritage LA$210,136 Executive Director $63,500 $80,975 2024
Barn Opera Inc VT$210,088 Artistic Direct $29,792 $34,726 2024
Traffic Jam Inc IL$210,150 President $9,895 $11,266 2024
Marietta Museum Of History Inc GA$210,201 Director $50,000 $58,221 2024
Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival OK$209,969 Coker $34,975 $44,600 2024
Wellesley Historical Society Inc MA$209,961 Executive Director $56,154 $60,164 2023
Tertulia Inc NY$210,279 Board Member $39,000 $42,018 2023
Capital City Symphony DC$210,335 Executive Dir. $24,334 $25,460 2023
Society For Indo-american Arts TX$209,892 Executive Director $35,000 $41,743 2023
Petipa Heritage Foundation CA$210,369 Executive Dir. $18,873 $19,430 2023
Danville Business Alliance PA$210,384 Executive Director $52,500 $62,422 2023
Three Rivers Carousel Foundation WA$209,800 Executive Director $75,195 $77,965 2024
Sample-mcdougald House Preservation FL$210,507 Executive Di $53,625 $56,836 2025
Napa County Historical Society CA$209,695 Executive Dir $80,000 $77,938 2025
Minnesota Fishing Museum & MN$210,554 Executive Di $44,914 $52,914 2023
Music Box Players PA$209,622 President $1,615 $1,865 2024
Southern Plain Productions OK$210,644 Artistic Dir. $33,612 $42,862 2024
Saco River Community Television ME$210,663 Executive Di $60,802 $70,508 2024
Ovation Theatre CA$209,509 Executive Director $53,750 $53,750 2024
James Whites Fort TN$210,761 Trustee $33,715 $41,041 2024
Lakecities Ballet Theatre TX$210,773 Artistic Director $10,000 $11,584 2024
Carolina Master Chorale Inc SC$210,799 Executive Director $17,005 $20,015 2025
Mixed Magic Theatre & Cultural Events RI$209,376 Director $20,500 $22,764 2024
Massachusetts Center For Native American Awareness Inc MA$210,887 President $37,000 $37,512 2025
Pacific International Choral OR$209,346 Artistic/exe $21,000 $23,251 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted90th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted87th

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 (Stephanie Derammelaere) 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 10, 2026, comparing compensation against 2000 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $85,453 is reasonable (approximately the 89th 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 10, 2026.