Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Lumina Studio Theatre Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 522274879
MD · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-07-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Meg Lebow, Executive Director / CEO ($56,986) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 311 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 74th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Meg Lebow — reported title “CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

311 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 311 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$742 total compensation of comparable organizations → $141,372 $56,986
$7,63110th
$20,73125th
$39,588Median
$57,62975th
$72,32990th
$56,986This org · 74th
p10$7,631
p25$20,731
p50$39,588
p75$57,629
p90$72,329
$56,986

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
Shakesperience Productions Inc CT$298,001 Executive Pr $21,000 $20,518 2025
Asante Art Institute Of Indianapolis Inc IN$297,818 Director $25,000 $27,473 2025
New York City Players Inc NY$296,648 President $2,875 $2,861 2023
Warehouse Theatre Company WA$299,704 Executive Director $14,997 $13,991 2025
Yard Theater Inc CA$296,182 President $31,150 $29,621 2023
Mineral Point Opera House Inc WI$295,976 Director $33,132 $37,011 2024
Paris Community Theater TX$295,327 President $4,700 $5,029 2024
Bond Street Theatre Coalition Ltd NY$295,067 Vice Preside $31,200 $30,156 2024
Rogue Artists Ensemble CA$302,062 Artistic Director/interim Board Chair $30,876 $28,518 2024
Rosendale Theatre Collective Inc NY$302,387 Managing Director $59,499 $57,508 2024
Main Street Players Inc GA$302,461 President $24,000 $25,812 2024
Firebird Childrens Theatre PA$302,599 President $36,150 $38,560 2024
Rainbow Productions VA$302,690 President $73,038 $75,431 2024
Artists' Ensemble Theater Inc IL$303,429 Artistic Dir $25,487 $26,110 2025
North Shore Children's Theatre Inc MA$304,291 President & Treasurer $65,000 $62,477 2024
Chicago Dramatists IL$291,266 Artistic Direc. $33,065 $35,797 2023
Children's Educational Theatre Inc OR$291,263 Executive Director $23,089 $22,935 2024
Wichita Falls Backdoor Players Inc TX$290,648 Executive Director $45,510 $50,132 2023
The Liberty Theatre Company ID$305,616 Executive Di $43,770 $49,804 2024
Soul Rep Theatre Company TX$289,722 Producton $26,854 $27,992 2025
Collaborative Theatre Project Inc OR$306,297 Artistic Dir $3,500 $3,477 2024
Boundless Theatre Company Inc NY$306,353 Founding Member $16,331 $15,785 2024
Improv Utopia CA$289,594 Presidentceo $50,417 $46,566 2024
Theater For Personal Growth Inc NY$306,579 Mgr Director/secty $95,500 $92,305 2024
Marblehead Little Theatre Inc MA$288,684 Secretary $3,800 $3,558 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 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 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 default74th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)75th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted68th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted74th

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 (Meg Lebow) 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 311 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $56,986 is reasonable (approximately the 74th 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.