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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Tidewater Winds

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 541637882
VA · NTEE A680
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michael Kerry Williams, Executive Director / CEO ($52,499) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 158 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 70th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Michael Kerry Williams — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

158 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 158 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$114 total compensation of comparable organizations → $151,158 $52,499
$9,97510th
$20,96625th
$40,710Median
$58,35075th
$82,86690th
$52,499This org · 70th
p10$9,975
p25$20,966
p50$40,710
p75$58,350
p90$82,866
$52,499

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
Taiko Community Alliance CA$224,568 Executive Director $38,967 $33,849 2024
Oklahoma Philharmonic Affiliated Fund Of OK$223,708 Secretary $25,864 $29,496 2023
Wisconsin Music Educators WI$223,664 Executive Di $40,081 $43,353 2023
City Park Jazz Inc CO$223,582 Executive Di $22,500 $21,703 2024
The Music Coop MN$223,343 Managing Director $46,644 $47,734 2023
Marlow Guitar International Incorporated MD$223,339 Executive Director $33,600 $32,534 2023
Elevar Foundation Inc FL$223,197 Executive Director $47,670 $46,380 2023
Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Inc NY$235,048 Executive Director $19,200 $17,969 2023
Siletz Bay Music Festival OR$222,643 Operations Manager $18,000 $16,816 2024
Ellsworth Community Music Institute ME$222,622 Artistic Dir $6,792 $6,842 2024
Piano Spheres CA$222,590 Executive Director $39,000 $33,005 2025
We Are All Music Foundation Inc NJ$222,128 Chief Operating Officer $28,744 $25,817 2024
Hausmann Quartet Foundation CA$221,963 President $25,917 $22,513 2024
Okc Improv Foundation OK$236,224 Executive Director $22,125 $24,508 2024
Bach Beethoven & Brahms Society Of Boston Inc MA$236,272 Director $1,803 $1,588 2025
Baltimore Rock Opera Society Inc MD$221,609 Executive Director $15,833 $14,891 2024
Oregon Mozart Players OR$236,572 Executive Di $25,000 $22,753 2025
St Louis Classical Guitar MO$237,684 Executive Director $66,462 $72,905 2023
Songfest Inc OH$238,320 President $71,250 $75,916 2024
Music Is Art NY$238,547 Executive Director $69,216 $62,919 2024
Dallas Bach Society TX$238,812 Executive Director $20,000 $20,720 2023
Ten Sleepless Knights Inc VI$239,048 President $8,380 $8,380 2023
Queen Bee Music Association NM$239,253 Executive Dir. $38,457 $41,610 2024
The Mundi Project UT$239,581 Executive Di $46,910 $48,298 2024
Ansonia Music Outreach Organization Inc NY$240,243 President $44,974 $40,883 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA 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 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 default70th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted70th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted69th

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 (Michael Kerry Williams) 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 158 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $52,499 is reasonable (approximately the 70th 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.