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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Virginia Choral Society Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 540917679
VA · NTEE A6BZ
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Bryson Mortensen, Executive Director / CEO ($20,085) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 573 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 39th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Bryson Mortensen — reported title “Artistic 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

573 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 573 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $473,892 $20,085
$4,20410th
$12,37725th
$26,442Median
$48,66875th
$69,72290th
$20,085This org · 39th
p10$4,204
p25$12,377
p50$26,442
p75$48,668
p90$69,722
$20,085

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 VA 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
Art At A Time Like This Inc NY$105,980 President $9,250 $9,148 2023
Chambersburg Area Council For The PA$105,989 Executive Director $30,530 $32,367 2024
The American Classic Arcade Museum NH$105,991 Director $18,200 $18,393 2023
East Bay Media Center CA$106,468 President $300 $275 2024
Swiss Heritage Society Inc IN$105,467 President $18,692 $20,956 2024
Jezebel Productions Inc NY$105,154 Executive Di $22,000 $21,134 2024
Salvage Vanguard Theater TX$107,275 Artistic Director $64,600 $70,726 2023
Out At The Movies NC$104,603 Executive Director Effective Aug 2024 $13,902 $15,271 2024
Swedish Historical Society Of Rockford IL$104,529 Executive Director $55,978 $60,233 2023
Austin Celtic Association TX$104,482 At-large $33,000 $35,093 2024
Committee For A Better New Orleans LA$107,720 Executive Director $80,000 $93,649 2024
Nebraska Firefighters Foundation NE$104,208 Executive Director $31,800 $36,360 2024
Chinese Christian Church Music Institute CA$104,020 Admin $25,500 $23,409 2024
Music From China Inc NY$104,010 Executive Director $28,200 $27,090 2024
Smh Support Corporation NY$104,003 Chairperson $77,265 $76,416 2023
Huntington African American Museum Inc NY$107,966 Executive Director $26,522 $25,478 2024
The Trey Clegg Singers Inc GA$103,947 Founder/director $24,000 $25,654 2024
Da Capo Virginia VA$103,840 Executive & Vivo Director/past-president $43,633 $44,787 2024
Parkway High School Band Boosters Inc LA$108,314 Main Treasurer $24,000 $28,095 2024
Montgomery Co Historical Society IN$103,557 Exec Directo $24,621 $27,602 2024
Bird Island Cultural Centre MN$103,456 Director $1,800 $1,891 2024
Akin Hall Association NY$103,447 Curator $23,400 $23,143 2023
Fairhope Film Festival Inc AL$108,523 Executive Director $16,000 $18,918 2023
Nashville Ballet Foundation TN$108,590 Artistic Director/ceo $4,054 $4,530 2024
The Corda Foundation NC$103,285 Treasurer $35,000 $39,581 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA 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 VA 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 default39th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)41st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted35th

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 (Bryson Mortensen) 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 573 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $20,085 is reasonable (approximately the 39th 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.