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

The Whitney Players Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 721564272
CT · NTEE A65
FY ending 2025-05-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cindy Simell-devoe, Executive Director / CEO ($32,100) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 295 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 38th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

How comparable organizations were selected

295 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 295 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$759 total compensation of comparable organizations → $144,693 $32,100
$7,56710th
$21,01325th
$41,001Median
$59,74375th
$72,12790th
$32,100This org · 38th
p10$7,567
p25$21,013
p50$41,001
p75$59,743
p90$72,127
$32,100

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.

OrganizationStateTotal revenueTotal compSource
The Movement Theatre Company IncNY $274,101$67,250 990
Elizabeth Youth Theater EnsembleNJ $274,068$48,279 990
Lower Bottom Playaz IncCA $273,901$108,298 990
Revival Theatre CompanyIA $276,486$7,405 990
National Queer TheaterNY $273,780$40,483 990
River West Theatre IncIN $273,633$31,970 990
Kitchen Dog TheaterTX $272,394$53,554 990
Stageworks On The Hudson IncNY $272,369$33,016 990
Stevie Rays Theatre CompanyMN $272,086$77,972 990
Pulse Ensemble Theatre IncNY $278,685$6,722 990
Invictus TheatreIL $278,797$23,708 990
Water People Theater Group NfpIL $279,163$65,868 990
The Roots And Wings ProjectCA $270,111$18,906 990
The Gift Theatre CompanyIL $280,448$44,500 990
Mohawk Valley Center For The Arts IncNY $269,570$46,807 990
Live Oak Theatre Company IncFL $281,507$7,810 990
Outcry Theatre IncTX $268,753$41,001 990
Rising Star Theatre CompanyIA $281,633$48,129 990
4 Community TheatreMN $268,606$15,361 990
The Harbor Stage Company IncMA $281,765$12,195 990
Friends Of The Penn IncMI $267,965$38,478 990
Hawaii Childrens TheatreHI $283,277$3,921 990
Green Bay Community Theater IncWI $266,954$891 990
Franklin Stock CompanyNY $266,791$50,924 990
Downriver Youth Performing Arts CenterMI $266,493$13,163 990

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 default38th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)41st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted39th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted38th

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 (Cindy Simell-devoe) 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 295 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $32,100 is reasonable (approximately the 38th 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). 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.