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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Poetry Society Of New York Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 473108566
NY · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Stephanie Berger, Executive Director / CEO ($48,700) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 38 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 66th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Stephanie Berger — reported title “CHAIR, TREASURER & C.E.O.”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

38 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 38 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,030 total compensation of comparable organizations → $95,500 $48,700
$4,51610th
$9,97025th
$31,376Median
$51,47775th
$71,26490th
$48,700This org · 66th
p10$4,516
p25$9,970
p50$31,376
p75$51,477
p90$71,264
$48,700

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 NY 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
Broken Box Mime Theater NY$248,740 Artistic Director $77,258 $79,540 2023
New York Theatre Barn Incorporated NY$245,252 General Manager $4,500 $4,633 2023
Notch Theatre Company NY$245,219 President/artistic Director $50,000 $50,000 2024
Pipeline Theatre Company Inc NY$236,519 Artist Trustee $10,122 $9,861 2025
Noor Theatre Inc NY$262,003 Treasurer/secretary/executive Director $12,500 $12,500 2024
Chinese Theatre Works Inc NY$262,698 Exec Director $32,650 $32,650 2024
The American Friends Of The Almeida NY$230,773 Secretary $5,170 $5,037 2025
Franklin Stock Company NY$266,791 Ex-officio/ad $50,000 $51,477 2023
Shake On The Lake Inc NY$227,871 Director $20,200 $20,200 2024
Mohawk Valley Center For The Arts Inc NY$269,570 Executive Director $48,567 $47,315 2025
Stageworks On The Hudson Inc NY$272,369 Exec. Artist $32,417 $33,375 2023
National Queer Theater NY$273,780 Director $39,748 $40,922 2023
Latinx Playwrights Circle Inc NY$222,247 President $4,355 $4,243 2025
The Movement Theatre Company Inc NY$274,101 President $67,980 $67,980 2024
She Nyc Arts Inc NY$218,793 Artistic Executive Director $4,000 $4,118 2023
Pulse Ensemble Theatre Inc NY$278,685 President $6,600 $6,795 2023
Staretthe Directors Company Inc NY$215,411 Executive Dir. $1,000 $1,030 2023
Innervision Theatre Arts Center Inc NY$215,083 Director $9,360 $9,360 2024
Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Co NY$213,428 Director $57,693 $57,693 2024
Piper Theatre Productions Inc NY$212,121 Artistic Director $10,000 $10,295 2023
Bond Street Theatre Coalition Ltd NY$295,067 Vice Preside $31,200 $31,200 2024
New York City Players Inc NY$296,648 President $2,875 $2,960 2023
Running To Places Theatre Company Ltd NY$194,342 Resident Director $31,552 $31,552 2024
Rosendale Theatre Collective Inc NY$302,387 Managing Director $59,499 $59,499 2024
Uptown Theater For Creative Arts Inc NY$192,481 Executive Director $16,375 $16,859 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default66th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)68th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted68th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted66th

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 Berger) 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 38 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $48,700 is reasonable (approximately the 66th 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.