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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

North Carolina Pottery Museum Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 561765000
NC · NTEE A510
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lindsey Lambert, Executive Director / CEO ($68,195) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 44 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 52nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lindsey Lambert — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

44 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 44 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3 total compensation of comparable organizations → $166,973 $68,195
$11,46110th
$51,11125th
$65,580Median
$85,39375th
$96,86190th
$68,195This org · 52nd
p10$11,461
p25$51,111
p50$65,580
p75$85,393
p90$96,861
$68,195

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
Santa Paula Art Museum CA$394,622 Executive Di $99,274 $85,159 2024
Concrete Couch CO$396,632 Executive Director $60,000 $58,842 2023
Doral Contemporary Art Museum Inc FL$398,641 President $2,000 $1,867 2024
Michelson Museum Of Art TX$388,017 Executive Dir. $53,900 $53,561 2024
516 Arts NM$383,975 President/ed $91,220 $97,466 2024
New Jersey State Museum Foundation NJ$383,083 Interim Ed $28,750 $25,500 2024
Mcpherson Museum & Arts Foundation KS$383,070 Exe Director $55,005 $60,776 2023
Lagrange Art Museum Inc GA$422,931 Executive Di $65,473 $65,398 2024
Cartoon Art Museum Of California CA$365,349 Executive Director $70,284 $60,291 2024
Sumter Gallery Of Art SC$361,959 Executive Di $12,513 $12,634 2025
Dixie Center For The Arts Inc LA$350,701 Executive Director $78,706 $86,095 2024
Waterworks Visual Arts Center Inc NC$348,857 Executive Di $76,743 $78,773 2024
Offcenter Community Arts Project NM$348,177 Executive Director $62,423 $68,667 2023
Mitte Cultural District TX$332,344 Executive Dir. $75,000 $76,730 2023
Bozeman Art Museum MT$332,259 Executive Director $49,000 $52,471 2024
Torrance Cultural Arts Center CA$457,647 Executive Director $101,435 $87,012 2024
Wharton Esherick Museum PA$330,251 Executive Director $111,483 $110,443 2024
Arnot Art Museum NY$460,339 Trustee $4 $3 2023
Lowell Art Association MA$475,992 President $106,923 $95,450 2024
International Art Museum Of America CA$311,017 Director $12,408 $10,958 2023
4 Elements Studio Inc NY$483,049 Executive Director $62,000 $55,655 2024
Coos Art Museum OR$484,043 Executive Director $67,333 $62,118 2024
Quincy Art Center IL$484,086 Executive Director $64,913 $61,763 2025
Washington Project For The Arts Inc DC$487,921 Interim Executive Dir (Thru April) $52,404 $47,032 2023
Visual Art Exchange NC$490,255 Executive Director $65,795 $69,531 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 default52nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)59th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted55th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted52nd

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 (Lindsey Lambert) 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 44 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A51), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $68,195 is reasonable (approximately the 52nd 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.