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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Golden Isles Arts & Humanities

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 581822047
GA · NTEE A260
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Heather Heath, Executive Director / CEO ($42,508) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 63 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 32nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Heather Heath — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

63 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 63 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$505 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,904 $42,508
$16,10010th
$38,51925th
$53,946Median
$69,63975th
$83,44090th
$42,508This org · 32nd
p10$16,100
p25$38,519
p50$53,946
p75$69,639
p90$83,440
$42,508

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 GA 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
Queen Anne's County Arts Council MD$297,108 Executive Director $71,726 $66,691 2024
Cultureworks MI$298,348 Executive Di $61,257 $61,262 2025
Barn Arts Center For The Arts Company VT$283,488 Executive Director $69,010 $71,122 2023
Lexington County Arts Association SC$283,341 President $500 $505 2025
Arts Council Napa Valley CA$278,573 Ceo/president $97,200 $83,475 2024
The Branson Arts Council Inc MO$308,013 Executive Director $11,250 $11,850 2024
Tioga County Council On The Arts Inc NY$276,999 Executive Dir. $41,892 $37,648 2024
Arts Council Of South Wood County WI$275,457 Executive Director $50,000 $50,595 2025
The Stelae Inc FL$272,281 Vice Preside $1,599 $1,494 2024
The Crossing Arts Alliance MN$271,075 Executive Director $55,000 $54,050 2024
Milwaukee Artist Resource Network WI$315,569 Executive Director $16,077 $16,699 2024
West Valley Arts Council AZ$315,816 Executive Di $70,000 $68,932 2023
Humboldt Arts Council Inc CA$316,093 Executive Director $71,267 $61,204 2024
Bayou Regional Arts Council LA$316,139 Exec Director $62,615 $68,572 2024
Arts Council Of Mendocino County CA$266,842 Executive Direc $68,330 $60,414 2023
Dona Ana Arts Council NM$266,004 Executive Director $33,346 $36,724 2023
Chenango County Council Of The Arts NY$261,508 Executive Director $42,182 $36,932 2025
East Bay Center For Thepreservation Oof Cultural Arts CA$260,374 President/admin Support $10,947 $9,159 2025
Chagrin Foundation For Arts OH$259,370 Executive Di $45,000 $46,180 2025
Greenwich Arts Council Inc CT$328,339 Executive Di $115,000 $104,473 2025
Iredell Arts Council Inc NC$336,389 Executive Di $36,607 $37,618 2024
Putnam Arts Council NY$248,244 President $78,640 $70,674 2024
Shoreline Arts Alliance Inc CT$246,862 Ceo/executiv $172,714 $156,904 2025
Kodiak Baranof Productions Inc AK$343,839 Exec Director $53,158 $50,545 2024
Craftnow Philadelphia PA$345,464 Executive Director $90,913 $90,167 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to GA 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 GA 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 default32nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted32nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted32nd

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 (Heather Heath) 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 63 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A26), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $42,508 is reasonable (approximately the 32nd 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.