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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Garden State Film Festival

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 481280505
NJ · NTEE A31
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lauren Concar Sheehy, Executive Director / CEO ($30,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 70 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

70 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 70 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,909 total compensation of comparable organizations → $231,881 $30,000
$20,53910th
$52,75125th
$72,103Median
$108,39075th
$148,53590th
$30,000This org · 13th
p10$20,539
p25$52,751
p50$72,103
p75$108,390
p90$148,535
$30,000

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 NJ 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
Black Girls Film Camp NC$361,259 Executive Dir $41,400 $49,179 2024
Association Of Film Commissioners CA$359,507 Executive Director $120,000 $122,646 2023
Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film NY$373,762 Pres & Exec Dir $65,000 $67,526 2024
The Zephyr Theatre MN$357,265 Interim Executive Director $48,000 $54,527 2024
Sun Valley Film Festival Inc ID$379,947 Chairman/ed $42,900 $52,466 2024
Dc Independent Film Festival DC$381,791 Executive Director $40,000 $40,354 2024
Cinefemme CA$346,073 Executive Director $170,504 $174,264 2023
Aitysh Usa CA$386,691 Executive Director $68,000 $69,500 2023
The Kindling Group IL$386,818 Executive Director $88,200 $102,632 2023
Checkerboard Foundation Inc NY$340,581 Chairman & President $20,000 $20,777 2024
New Plaza Cinema Inc NY$338,151 General Mgr/ $35,000 $37,434 2023
Florida Film Institute Inc FL$333,870 President $69,675 $75,249 2024
Julien Dubuque International Film Festival IA$331,397 Executive Director $67,980 $85,574 2024
Tallgrass Film Association KS$330,994 Executive Director $68,725 $85,357 2024
Visart Inc NC$400,703 Executive Director $39,224 $46,594 2024
Mendocino Film Festival Inc CA$330,313 Festival Administrator $71,890 $69,528 2025
Bravemaker CA$324,639 President $132,000 $134,911 2023
James R Halsey Foundation Of The Arts NJ$323,352 Ceo $60,000 $63,407 2023
Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival CA$410,985 Executive Director $166,001 $169,662 2023
Port Townsend Film Institute WA$412,527 Executive Dir. $83,500 $85,946 2024
Three Generations Inc NY$413,975 Founder $67,409 $70,029 2024
Southern Oregon Film Society OR$314,913 Executive Director $4,387 $4,563 2025
Field Of Vision Inc NY$313,671 Executive Dir. $223,207 $231,881 2024
Friends Of The Garden Theater MI$420,656 Executive Di $78,405 $93,038 2024
Schoolyard Films Inc FL$420,840 Executive Director $120,000 $129,602 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NJ cost of living and 2025 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 NJ 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted13th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Lauren Concar Sheehy) 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 70 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $30,000 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.