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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Ovation Theatre

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 471388690
CA · NTEE A60
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Pamela Laurent, Executive Director / CEO ($53,750) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 104 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 63rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

104 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 104 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$693 total compensation of comparable organizations → $121,100 $53,750
$8,22810th
$19,63325th
$40,225Median
$65,96375th
$81,98490th
$53,750This org · 63rd
p10$8,228
p25$19,633
p50$40,225
p75$65,963
p90$81,984
$53,750

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
Theatre Art For Kids NE$208,967 President $23,333 $29,063 2024
Our Fabulous Variety Show Inc NY$208,492 Executive Di $33,648 $34,304 2025
Theater At The Center Inc IN$208,112 Administrator $44,677 $56,174 2023
Maryland Center For The Visual And Performing Arts Inc MD$207,895 Executive Director $22,000 $23,205 2025
Experiments In Opera NY$211,152 Executive Director $12,000 $12,234 2025
State Theatre Preservation Society PA$207,334 President $3,116 $3,705 2023
Freed Performing Arts Inc FL$211,849 President $36,000 $40,322 2023
Starring Buffalo Inc NY$206,183 Executive Director $15,000 $15,292 2025
Blackstone River Theatre RI$213,507 Executive Director $72,538 $82,930 2023
East Side Arts Council MN$213,627 Executive Dir. $40,810 $46,699 2024
Allens Community Theatre TX$205,139 At Large $1,275 $1,521 2023
Steel City Improv Theater PA$215,164 Interim Executive Director $60,370 $71,779 2023
Bruka Theater Of The Sierra Inc NV$215,521 Executive Director $28,620 $34,204 2023
Dance Canvas Inc GA$202,673 Executive Artistic Director $104,000 $121,100 2024
Opera Project Columbus Inc OH$216,683 Secretary $7,600 $9,597 2023
Corrib Theatre OR$219,389 Managing Director $63,358 $70,151 2023
Base Academy Of Music MO$220,833 Executive Director $29,692 $36,420 2024
Vineyard Arts Project Limited MA$221,556 Founder And Artistic Director $97,846 $104,832 2023
The Square Foot Theatre Company Inc CT$222,033 Excutive Director & Co-founder $12,379 $13,839 2023
Mosaic Steel Orchestra VA$222,867 President $70,763 $81,462 2023
Wonderlust Productions MN$223,119 Board Member And Co-artistic Director $44,750 $52,721 2023
Resonance Works PA$223,259 Board Member $600 $693 2024
Creative Arts Repertoire Ensemble MI$195,311 Director $7,500 $8,965 2024
Ra-ve Cultural Foundation Inc AR$195,135 Executive Director $31,416 $42,103 2023
Collide TX$224,510 Artistic Dir $47,000 $54,447 2024

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 default63rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)75th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted64th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted63rd

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 (Pamela Laurent) 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 104 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $53,750 is reasonable (approximately the 63rd 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.