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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Aurora Picture Show

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 760612928
TX · NTEE A31
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sarah Stauder, Executive Director / CEO ($49,650) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 62 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

62 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 62 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,593 total compensation of comparable organizations → $201,633 $49,650
$8,69210th
$26,39725th
$48,859Median
$74,36475th
$107,77890th
$49,650This org · 50th
p10$8,692
p25$26,397
p50$48,859
p75$74,364
p90$107,778
$49,650

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 TX 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
Clarity Educational Productions Inc CA$256,270 President $90,000 $79,985 2023
Eastland Fine Arts Association TX$254,741 Coo $53,247 $54,820 2023
Mirabel Pictures CA$262,326 President $56,000 $49,769 2023
Screamfest Horror Film Festival CA$253,413 Co-director $41,600 $36,971 2023
Cinema Tropical Inc NY$252,198 Dir/officer $89,000 $78,325 2025
Make Your Mark Media Inc MD$251,060 Employee $125,700 $120,951 2023
Women Photographers International Archive Inc FL$248,525 President $50,010 $46,966 2024
Myth Media OR$247,747 Executive Dir $28,182 $25,489 2025
Hollywood In Pixels Inc CA$243,170 President/chair $8,300 $7,165 2024
Cinemama CA$273,475 President $7,380 $6,559 2023
National Center For Jewish Film Inc MA$242,373 Co Director $95,000 $87,863 2023
Houston Cinema Arts Society TX$274,179 Executive Director $92,943 $92,943 2024
Transgender Film Center Ltd KS$277,574 President/executive Director $11,500 $12,787 2023
Monterey County Film Commission CA$238,200 Film Commissioner $92,898 $82,561 2023
Capital City Film Festival MI$237,471 Executive Di $1,500 $1,593 2023
Professional Development FL$281,728 President $136,576 $128,263 2024
Witnessing History Education KY$281,798 Director $175,426 $193,979 2023
Jewish Partisan Education Foundation CA$282,356 Foundation Mgr. $108,065 $93,285 2024
Mara Brock Akil's Writers' Colony CA$283,106 Foundation Director $125,000 $107,904 2024
Reel Earth Films AZ$230,403 Executive Director $26,143 $25,877 2023
The Generations Project Inc NY$288,484 Executive Dir. $68,000 $63,242 2023
Hasan History Arts And Science Action VA$227,178 Co-president $11,000 $10,931 2023
Mezcla Media Collective Ltd IL$225,813 Executive Dir. $38,400 $37,740 2024
Appian Media Resources Inc IN$225,777 President/se $22,291 $24,194 2023
Filmmakers United CA$221,196 President $44,780 $38,656 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TX 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 TX 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 default50th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)47th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted50th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted50th

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 (Sarah Stauder) 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 62 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $49,650 is reasonable (approximately the 50th 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.