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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Girls Rock Des Moines

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 472445868
IA · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rachel Gulick, Executive Director / CEO ($33,280) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 175 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 39th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Rachel Gulick — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

175 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 175 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$103 total compensation of comparable organizations → $137,233 $33,280
$10,67010th
$22,84525th
$39,084Median
$56,08875th
$77,81590th
$33,280This org · 39th
p10$10,670
p25$22,845
p50$39,084
p75$56,088
p90$77,815
$33,280

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 IA 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
The Claflin Hill Music Performance MA$265,767 Exec & Artistic Director $60,324 $50,971 2023
New Orleans Arts & Cultural Host LA$264,844 Executive Di $42,000 $42,238 2024
The Impact Project NY$265,968 Director $59,250 $48,898 2024
International Tuba Euphonium Association CT$266,921 Executive Director $24,996 $20,853 2025
Music City Artist Development CA$267,297 Executive Director $6,955 $5,485 2024
Envelop CA$267,859 Executive Dir. $106,000 $83,595 2024
Renovation In Music Education DC$262,501 President $119,086 $98,259 2023
Border Crossing MN$261,798 Exec Director $85,906 $75,527 2025
Swan Scaling Walls A Note At A Time PA$269,848 Executive Director $29,330 $27,502 2023
Etm-massachusetts Inc MA$260,492 Exective Director $94,688 $80,006 2023
Rock Central Inc WI$259,349 Executive Di $18,886 $18,014 2024
School Of American Music MI$272,137 Director/teacher $12,000 $11,646 2023
Music In Place CA$258,414 Mkting Adm Off. $39,708 $31,315 2024
Endless Mountain Music Festival Inc PA$272,950 Executive Director $17,000 $15,483 2024
Mencius Society For The Arts Inc NY$256,991 Executive Di $34,793 $27,974 2025
Uil Music Region 24 TX$274,907 Asst Exec Secretary $11,028 $9,816 2025
Ladies Musical Club Of Seattle WA$274,987 Executive Director $96,000 $78,497 2024
Kingston Chamber Music Festival At The RI$275,012 Executive Director (Former) $60,000 $52,544 2024
Opus Community Music School Inc MD$254,890 Executive Director/teacher $47,417 $40,487 2024
Guardians Of Sound PA$254,493 Executive Director $48,200 $43,899 2024
American Harp Society Inc MA$254,201 Executive Director $59,600 $50,358 2023
Copper Street Brass Quintet Non Profit MN$277,682 Executive Program Director $54,000 $47,476 2025
Bach Society Of Minnesota MN$277,880 Executive Director $52,800 $47,649 2024
Cormont Music NH$279,064 Executive Dir. $14,600 $12,312 2024
Omaha Girls Rock Inc NE$279,075 Executive Director $33,205 $32,617 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IA 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 IA 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 default39th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)34th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted38th

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 (Rachel Gulick) 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 175 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $33,280 is reasonable (approximately the 39th 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.