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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Baltimore Theatre Project

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 521319713
MD · NTEE A65Z
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Robert Pfingsten, Executive Director / CEO ($47,700) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 300 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 55th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Robert Pfingsten — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

300 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 300 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$761 total compensation of comparable organizations → $145,112 $47,700
$8,54810th
$24,00425th
$44,088Median
$61,91175th
$77,46690th
$47,700This org · 55th
p10$8,548
p25$24,004
p50$44,088
p75$61,911
p90$77,466
$47,700

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 MD 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
Anchorage Community Theater Inc AK$320,704 Executive Dir. $63,675 $66,838 2024
Stolen Shakespeare Guild TX$319,631 Executive Di $48,166 $52,899 2024
Walla Walla Summer Theater Studios WA$318,806 Executive Artistic Director $70,000 $68,809 2024
Port Tobacco Players Inc MD$318,280 President $28,000 $28,741 2024
Theatre Macon Inc GA$317,696 Executive Di $59,740 $65,950 2024
Teatro Hispano De Dallas TX$317,399 Executive Director $63,750 $72,083 2023
Kokandy Productions IL$317,321 Producing Artistic Director $9,800 $10,578 2024
Coho Productions Inc OR$327,779 Managing Dir $40,000 $40,783 2024
Alaska Theatre Of Youth AK$316,999 Exec Dir $20,238 $21,243 2024
Lights Up Theater Inc CA$315,600 Vice President $75,000 $71,104 2024
Regional Theatre Of The Palouse WA$315,442 President $12,000 $11,796 2024
Actors Guild Of Parkersburg Inc WV$315,308 Interim Technical Director $35,798 $43,813 2023
Theatre Dybbuk CA$314,939 See Sch O $65,149 $61,765 2024
Longview Act TX$330,966 Executive Director $60,108 $66,014 2024
Master Arts Theatre MI$331,057 Artistic Dir $37,693 $42,715 2024
Umpqua Actors Community Theatre OR$331,066 Executive Director $64,477 $65,741 2024
Musical Theatre Factory Inc NY$313,462 President $50,000 $51,071 2023
Cloverdale Playhouse Inc AL$313,352 Operations M $43,820 $51,976 2024
Playpenn Inc PA$331,512 Artistic Dir $88,952 $97,393 2024
Control Group Productions CO$312,866 Ex Officio/n $42,185 $43,267 2025
Music On The Hill Inc CT$312,763 President, D $30,330 $31,222 2024
Actors Bridge Ensemble Theater Of Nashville Inc TN$312,269 Producing Artistic Director $76,500 $86,011 2025
Germantown Community Theatre Inc TN$332,841 Executive Director $53,420 $60,061 2025
Musical Youth Artist Repertory Theatre CA$332,871 President $75,955 $74,137 2023
Kidz Konnection Inc CT$333,085 President $50,833 $50,980 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MD 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 MD 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 default55th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)58th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted55th

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 (Robert Pfingsten) 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 300 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $47,700 is reasonable (approximately the 55th 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.