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

Taos Institute

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 760586294
OH · NTEE B90
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kenneth Gergen, Executive Director / CEO ($8,010) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 226 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 7th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Kenneth Gergen — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

226 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 226 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$486 total compensation of comparable organizations → $211,986 $8,010
$9,51410th
$19,53225th
$42,714Median
$65,48875th
$86,23290th
$8,010This org · 7th
p10$9,514
p25$19,532
p50$42,714
p75$65,488
p90$86,232
$8,010

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 OH 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
Claremont Senior Center Inc NH$171,140 Executive Director $20,010 $16,944 2024
Offering Alternative Therapy With Smiles MI$171,225 Executive Director $37,000 $36,057 2023
Whats Your Forte Foundation AZ$171,585 Executive Dir. $80,000 $70,557 2024
Music Youth Partnership Foundation KS$173,124 Executive Director $9,750 $9,411 2025
Northwest Pbis Network Inc OR$173,146 Executive Director $146,743 $128,663 2023
Njecc Inc NJ$173,243 President $24,368 $19,438 2025
Ihsaa Foundation Inc IN$168,393 President $30,377 $30,245 2023
The Fairlight Foundation $167,559 Executive Director $47,174 $47,174 2023
Termite Tv Collective Inc PA$174,545 President $10,000 $9,415 2023
Tuskegee Human & Civil Rights AL$174,642 Man. Director $68,399 $69,767 2023
Rising Movement NC$175,000 Executive Director $47,281 $46,125 2023
Afara Governance Inc NC$175,000 Ceo $118,835 $115,930 2023
Philadelphia Furniture Workshop PA$175,298 Executive Director $79,190 $72,421 2024
Chinese Language School Of Connecticut CT$165,299 Academic Director $20,000 $17,197 2024
Style Her Empowered Inc ID$177,248 Ceo $47,935 $48,145 2023
Family Learning Solutions Inc Co Lori S Melman MD$164,514 Founder & Executive Director $50,000 $42,869 2024
Milwaukee Women Inc WI$163,861 External Engagement $62,100 $61,233 2023
Discovery Leadership WA$178,998 President $48,000 $39,411 2024
Oregon Medical Education OR$179,264 Executive Director $99,292 $84,560 2024
Cookeville Children's Theatre TN$161,646 Artistic Director $31,105 $30,870 2023
Michigan Interscholastic Press MI$161,452 Executive Director $8,100 $7,668 2024
Southwest Education Alliance Inc NC$160,825 Secretary $70,000 $64,620 2025
Family Biz Builder MS$160,005 Ceo $19,500 $19,917 2024
Cfrg Newco Inc NY$159,797 Executive Director $10,585 $8,771 2024
Artplace Mississippi Inc MS$182,388 Executive Di $40,000 $39,802 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OH cost of living and 2023 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 OH 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 default7th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)6th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted13th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted7th

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 (Kenneth Gergen) 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 226 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B90), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $8,010 is reasonable (approximately the 7th 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.