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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Crescendo Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 562537454
CT · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christine Gevert, Executive Director / CEO ($30,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 162 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 30th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Christine Gevert — reported title “Founding and Artistic Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

162 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 162 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$121 total compensation of comparable organizations → $160,259 $30,000
$11,47210th
$23,93225th
$44,017Median
$62,67175th
$88,15190th
$30,000This org · 30th
p10$11,472
p25$23,932
p50$44,017
p75$62,671
p90$88,151
$30,000

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 CT 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
Poss Music Works Nfp IL$240,849 Executive Director $20,000 $20,430 2025
Sound Impact VA$240,775 Secretary $32,945 $34,928 2023
Ansonia Music Outreach Organization Inc NY$240,243 President $44,974 $43,344 2024
The Mundi Project UT$239,581 Executive Di $46,910 $51,206 2024
Queen Bee Music Association NM$239,253 Executive Dir. $38,457 $44,115 2024
Ten Sleepless Knights Inc VI$239,048 President $8,380 $8,628 2023
Asociacion Suzuki De Puerto Rico Inc PR$244,801 Administrator $35,132 $35,132 2024
Dallas Bach Society TX$238,812 Executive Director $20,000 $21,968 2023
Music Is Art NY$238,547 Executive Director $69,216 $66,707 2024
Songfest Inc OH$238,320 President $71,250 $80,486 2024
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $41,029 2024
Colorado Music Bridge CO$245,716 Co-exec Director $18,000 $18,952 2023
St Louis Classical Guitar MO$237,684 Executive Director $66,462 $77,295 2023
Campbell Learning Center Inc TX$246,185 Director $58,994 $64,799 2023
Oregon Mozart Players OR$236,572 Executive Di $25,000 $24,123 2025
Bach Beethoven & Brahms Society Of Boston Inc MA$236,272 Director $1,803 $1,684 2025
Okc Improv Foundation OK$236,224 Executive Director $22,125 $25,984 2024
Asheville Music School Sound Education NC$247,759 Ex Officio $43,403 $46,598 2025
Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Inc NY$235,048 Executive Director $19,200 $19,051 2023
Contemporaneous Inc NY$249,614 Director $30,057 $28,968 2024
Mallarme Chamber Players Inc NC$249,676 Artistic Director $77,004 $84,860 2024
Montana Chamber Music Society MT$249,956 Director $108 $121 2025
American Harp Society Inc MA$254,201 Executive Director $59,600 $58,808 2023
Guardians Of Sound PA$254,493 Executive Director $48,200 $51,265 2024
The Tidewater Winds VA$228,993 Executive Di $52,499 $55,660 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CT 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 CT 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 default30th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)31st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted30th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted30th

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 (Christine Gevert) 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 162 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $30,000 is reasonable (approximately the 30th 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.