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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Ely Folk School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 472706626
MN · NTEE A20
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lucy Soderstrom, Executive Director / CEO ($40,165) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 304 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 46th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lucy Soderstrom — reported title “Program Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

304 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 304 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$277 total compensation of comparable organizations → $281,673 $40,165
$8,85910th
$23,97325th
$43,025Median
$60,84675th
$76,98390th
$40,165This org · 46th
p10$8,859
p25$23,973
p50$43,025
p75$60,846
p90$76,983
$40,165

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 MN 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
Museum Of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara CA$267,953 Executive Director $48,038 $40,776 2024
Can Foundation VA$268,491 Treasurer $620 $606 2023
A Blade Of Grass Fund NY$268,734 Interim Executive Director $111,932 $102,362 2023
Stove Works TN$268,772 Executive Director $6,000 $6,383 2023
Englewood Cultural Arts Center CO$269,096 Executive Dir. $24,000 $22,621 2024
Arts Longview TX$266,310 Executive Director $52,597 $51,719 2024
Dulce Upfront Labs CA$265,904 Co-director $44,316 $37,617 2024
San Francisco International Arts Festival Inc CA$265,801 President, Executive Director $70,000 $59,418 2024
Northen Culture Exchange AK$269,815 Secretarydired $41,500 $40,153 2023
J Austin White Cultural Center Inc AR$269,962 Executive Di $46,500 $51,380 2024
Immersive Arts Alliance CA$264,651 Exec Directo $24,500 $21,410 2023
Youth Art Team IA$270,875 Executive Director $91,450 $98,429 2024
Carnegie Visual Arts Center Inc AL$264,371 Executive Di $44,000 $46,727 2024
Pasacat Inc CA$264,275 Executive Director Administra $5,700 $4,981 2023
Rhode Island Black Storytellers RI$263,583 Executive Director $60,643 $57,160 2024
Big Medium TX$272,568 Executive Director $88,723 $87,242 2024
Que-os NC$261,808 Executive Director $79,186 $78,356 2025
Rockport Cultural Arts District TX$261,701 Executive Director $76,000 $76,938 2023
Canyon Cinema Foundation CA$261,223 Executive Director $58,708 $51,304 2023
Godfrey Daniels PA$274,421 Executive Director $40,000 $39,211 2024
Arts Center At Duck Creek Inc NY$260,193 President $94,880 $84,278 2024
Orion Art Center MI$275,474 Executive Di $53,309 $54,089 2024
Friends Of The Chief Foundation Inc CO$275,989 Executive Director $9,500 $10,365 2021
Boston Art Review Inc MA$276,312 President $74,906 $66,167 2024
People And Stories Gente Y Cuentos NJ$276,496 Exec. Direct $69,731 $61,200 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN 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 MN 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 default46th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)41st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted46th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted44th

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 (Lucy Soderstrom) 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 304 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $40,165 is reasonable (approximately the 46th 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.