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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Creative Play Children's Learning

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 475224424
FL · NTEE B21
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Susan Joyce Mcmahon, Executive Director / CEO ($49,252) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 294 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 52nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Susan Joyce Mcmahon — reported title “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

294 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 294 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$358 total compensation of comparable organizations → $155,140 $49,252
$16,96410th
$35,76925th
$47,607Median
$62,33675th
$78,58490th
$49,252This org · 52nd
p10$16,964
p25$35,769
p50$47,607
p75$62,336
p90$78,584
$49,252

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 FL 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
Berkeley Hills Parents Association CA$340,360 Exec. Direct $77,439 $69,138 2024
Chenango Valley Nursery Inc NY$338,231 Executive Dir. $49,509 $45,064 2025
Cisco Center Foundation Inc MD$344,268 Ex Officio A $31,500 $30,449 2024
Fallston Country Pre-kindergar MD$344,539 Teacher $46,295 $43,597 2025
Sunshine And Rainbows Early TX$336,330 Director $35,770 $36,042 2025
Kaleidoscope School WA$346,306 President/treasury $63,064 $56,874 2025
Rockport Christian Service Inc TX$346,774 Director $54,365 $57,889 2023
Growing Tree Inc TN$347,057 Director $46,760 $50,819 2024
Kidz R Us Too IA$334,845 Secretarydirector $50,700 $57,397 2024
Mid-mitten Montessori MI$333,251 Ex Officio $44,444 $47,431 2024
Scribbles Preschool Inc NJ$349,805 President $47,085 $43,466 2024
Miss Ruby's Kids SC$332,288 Executive Director $72,397 $76,078 2025
Little Disciples Learning Center OH$331,624 Director/pre $77,780 $85,178 2024
Harborlight Nursery School Inc MA$350,619 Executive Director $73,000 $67,826 2024
St Thomas Day School Inc GA$331,192 Director $35,271 $35,723 2025
Community Nursery School Of Wayland MA$350,992 Registrar $44,998 $40,730 2025
Creative Beginning Child Care Center NY$351,556 Executive Director $56,288 $51,234 2025
Meadows Place Preschool TX$351,827 Executive Director $54,000 $57,500 2023
Mancos Valley Dragonfly School CO$351,958 Executive Dir. $40,800 $40,450 2024
East End Preschool TX$330,142 Director $44,520 $44,859 2025
Little Sprouts Learning Center Inc MN$352,085 Board Member $37,711 $39,666 2023
Jens Infants And Toddlers Inc LA$352,583 President $35,630 $40,565 2024
Dayspring Childrens Center OH$329,522 President $84,600 $90,258 2025
Gazelle Creative Learning School CA$329,372 President $102,550 $91,558 2024
School Of The Beartooths MT$328,664 Executive Director $52,082 $59,761 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to FL 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 FL 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 default52nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)53rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted53rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted52nd

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 (Susan Joyce Mcmahon) 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 294 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $49,252 is reasonable (approximately the 52nd 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.