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

Piedmont Wind Symphony

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 561627179
NC · NTEE A6CZ
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Brianna Cantwell Beg 7124, Executive Director / CEO ($40,520) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 37 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 57th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Brianna Cantwell Beg 7124 — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

37 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 37 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$857 total compensation of comparable organizations → $158,995 $40,520
$3,77210th
$10,58525th
$34,398Median
$71,44275th
$86,57490th
$40,520This org · 57th
p10$3,772
p25$10,585
p50$34,398
p75$71,442
p90$86,574
$40,520

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 NC 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
Cleveland Jazz Orchestra OH$351,397 Executive Di $55,000 $57,869 2024
We Always Swing Inc MO$335,970 Exec. Director $70,200 $76,045 2023
Akropolis Quintet Inc MI$358,605 Executive Di $52,000 $53,319 2024
Israeli Chamber Project Inc NY$332,660 Vice President $80,025 $71,836 2024
Groove Inc SD$328,225 Executive Director $43,500 $47,692 2024
The Vigil Project Inc LA$327,253 Director $71,854 $78,600 2024
Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra Inc VA$317,966 Music Direct $23,846 $22,873 2024
The Louisville Leopard Percussionists KY$313,220 Founder, Director $22,500 $23,395 2025
Byron Schenkman & Friends WA$312,706 Executive Dir. $38,676 $34,398 2024
Musical Instruments N Kids Hands CA$385,911 President $17,490 $15,003 2024
The Queer Big Apple Corps Inc NY$300,245 Executive Director $101,621 $93,917 2023
North Texas Colorguard Association TX$296,239 President $5,000 $4,968 2024
Chapparells Baton & Drum Corps Inc OH$402,428 President $18,720 $19,696 2024
Delirium Musicum CA$289,286 President $63,410 $54,394 2024
Milwaukee Jazz Institute Inc WI$288,509 Executive Dir. $60,000 $62,250 2024
45th Parallel OR$404,538 Executive Dir. $3,322 $2,986 2025
Allentown Band Inc PA$275,036 Director $12,423 $12,307 2024
Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree WA$271,187 President $28,100 $24,992 2024
Reno Jazz Orchestra NV$425,240 Executive Di $33,900 $32,886 2025
Chamber Music Unbound CA$426,356 Education Director $103,220 $86,261 2025
City Sound Drum And Bugle Corps CA$265,067 Treasurer $1,000 $857 2024
Chicas Rockeras South East Los Angeles CA$264,873 Director $3,525 $3,113 2023
Ascend Performing Arts Inc CO$264,856 Ceo $75,000 $71,442 2024
Radiance Ministries TX$262,904 Director $160,000 $158,995 2024
The Raleigh Ringers Inc NC$262,339 Music Direct $34,095 $36,031 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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 default57th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)57th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted57th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted57th

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 (Brianna Cantwell Beg 7124) 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 37 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A6C), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $40,520 is reasonable (approximately the 57th 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.