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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Theatre Memphis

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 620418732
TN · NTEE A650
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Debbie Litch, Executive Director / CEO ($105,887) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 154 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 69th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Debbie Litch — reported title “EXECUTIVE PRODUCER”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

154 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 154 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,115 total compensation of comparable organizations → $303,187 $105,887
$41,69110th
$66,87425th
$87,658Median
$110,99475th
$132,91890th
$105,887This org · 69th
p10$41,691
p25$66,874
p50$87,658
p75$110,994
p90$132,918
$105,887

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 TN 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
Creative Arts Workshops For Kids Inc NY$1,935,890 Executive Director $148,219 $130,790 2024
Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre Inc NY$1,935,616 Exec. Direct $88,222 $77,848 2024
The Opera San Antonio TX$1,972,087 Artistic Director $126,603 $123,669 2024
Niswonger Performing Arts Center Board TN$1,932,359 Executive Director $105,628 $105,628 2025
Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center PA$1,973,429 Executive Director $73,001 $71,089 2024
🔒 149 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TN 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 TN 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 default69th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted74th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted68th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 154-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 10, 2026.