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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Persephone Productions Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 541804342
VA · NTEE A32
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Bonnie G Erbe, Executive Director / CEO ($80,506) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 600 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 95th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

600 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 600 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $461,677 $80,506
$4,26510th
$12,85225th
$26,872Median
$48,16275th
$68,14790th
$80,506This org · 95th
p10$4,265
p25$12,852
p50$26,872
p75$48,162
p90$68,147
$80,506

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
Elivy Youth Performing Arts Institute IL$109,056 Treasurer $3,120 $3,177 2024
The Etruscan Foundation MI$108,868 Exec. Direct $52,000 $55,588 2024
Waynesboro Community Theatre Project Inc PA$109,329 Director $29,879 $30,860 2024
Torah Lishmah Institute Inc NY$109,422 President $100,000 $93,587 2024
Nashville Ballet Foundation TN$108,590 Artistic Director/ceo $4,054 $4,413 2024
Emerald Hills Institute UT$109,609 Director $3,000 $3,180 2024
Fairhope Film Festival Inc AL$108,523 Executive Director $16,000 $18,431 2023
The Iredell Museums Inc NC$109,708 Programs Opreations Manager $48,585 $50,653 2025
Parkway High School Band Boosters Inc LA$108,314 Main Treasurer $24,000 $27,370 2024
Art In The Atrium Inc NJ$110,017 Ceo $54,985 $50,845 2024
Huntington African American Museum Inc NY$107,966 Executive Director $26,522 $24,821 2024
Committee For A Better New Orleans LA$107,720 Executive Director $80,000 $91,234 2024
The Arts Project Inc MD$110,552 Executive Director $24,559 $23,780 2024
Denizen Theatre Inc NY$110,746 Secretary/treasurer $19,980 $18,699 2024
The Midwest Writing Center IL$110,753 Executive Director $33,497 $35,114 2023
Holland Childrens Movement NE$110,791 Ceo $42,825 $49,114 2023
Salvage Vanguard Theater TX$107,275 Artistic Director $64,600 $68,903 2023
Philadelphia Dance Projects PA$111,022 Executive Di $4,000 $4,025 2025
Trilogy An Opera Company NJ$111,031 Artisticexecutive Director $19,150 $17,708 2024
Shelton Historical Society Inc CT$111,059 Executive Director $24,445 $23,738 2024
Belton Center For The Arts SC$111,131 Executive Director $35,077 $37,900 2024
Trent House Association Inc NJ$111,226 Interim Executive Director $6,000 $5,712 2023
Opheliasmedia Films Inc GA$111,500 Director $45,950 $47,851 2024
Highland Historical Society VA$111,650 Executive Di $19,240 $19,240 2024
East Bay Media Center CA$106,468 President $300 $268 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 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 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 default95th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)95th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted95th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

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 (Bonnie G Erbe) 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 600 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $80,506 is reasonable (approximately the 95th 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.