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

Heartwood Regional Theater Company

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 562404197
ME · NTEE A65
FY ending 2025-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Joy T Braley, Executive Director / CEO ($55,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 159 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 88th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

159 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 159 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$834 total compensation of comparable organizations → $115,071 $55,000
$4,21910th
$11,73225th
$26,749Median
$43,84975th
$57,38090th
$55,000This org · 88th
p10$4,219
p25$11,732
p50$26,749
p75$43,849
p90$57,380
$55,000

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 ME 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
Jion Academy CA$180,108 President $9,900 $8,763 2024
State Theatre Company TX$179,853 Secretary/ceo $9,664 $9,910 2024
Orange Park Community Theatre Inc FL$178,121 President $900 $867 2024
Iron Crow Theatre Company Inc MD$177,985 Director $3,620 $3,380 2025
Origin Theatre Company Inc NY$184,758 Artistic Dir $67,500 $64,371 2023
Dunes Art Foundation Inc IN$176,991 Managing Dir $2,000 $2,162 2024
The Nola Project Inc LA$176,949 Executive Director $8,177 $9,229 2024
Oak Park River Forest Civic Theatre IL$175,886 Managing Director $28,501 $28,723 2024
Marva Theater Performing Arts Center Inc MD$175,093 Theater Manager $21,333 $21,048 2023
Whidbey Childrens Theater WA$174,519 Executive Director $37,000 $34,960 2023
Friends Of Hart Inc OR$187,904 President $15,250 $14,143 2025
Crearte Latino Cultural Center Corp FL$188,130 Director $60,000 $57,780 2024
Ohlook Performing Arts Center Inc TX$173,927 Educational And Creative Director $36,000 $36,915 2024
Off The Wall Productions PA$188,494 Executive Ar $5,627 $5,922 2023
North Canton Playhouse OH$189,127 Executive Director $27,490 $29,846 2024
Rubber City Shakespeare Company OH$190,570 Ex-officio $11,843 $12,858 2024
Margret And Ha Rey Center Inc NH$190,958 Director $56,160 $53,157 2024
Lucky Plush Productions IL$170,279 Secretary $3,443 $3,380 2025
Uptown Theater For Creative Arts Inc NY$192,481 Executive Director $16,375 $15,616 2023
Running To Places Theatre Company Ltd NY$194,342 Resident Director $31,552 $29,227 2024
Bricolage PA$194,428 Principal Creative & Co-fo $58,112 $61,159 2023
Alton Little Theater Incorporated IL$194,676 Executive Director $36,050 $36,331 2024
My Nose Turns Red Theatre Company KY$167,457 Executive Director $43,720 $48,150 2024
Childrens Theatre Of Houston TX$167,263 Officer $44,584 $45,717 2024
Bandit Theater WA$195,227 Executiveartistic Director $57,991 $54,794 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to ME 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 ME 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 default88th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)86th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted90th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted87th

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 (Joy T Braley) 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 159 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $55,000 is reasonable (approximately the 88th 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.