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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Baton Rouge Blues Festival & Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 810594076
LA · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lauren Lambert Tompkins, Executive Director / CEO ($72,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 188 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 85th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lauren Lambert Tompkins — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

188 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 188 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$103 total compensation of comparable organizations → $116,961 $72,000
$12,20710th
$25,55225th
$40,643Median
$58,05575th
$77,17890th
$72,000This org · 85th
p10$12,207
p25$25,552
p50$40,643
p75$58,055
p90$77,178
$72,000

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 LA 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
Idaho Music Educators Association Inc ID$311,720 Executive Director (Non-voting) $21,000 $20,288 2024
Keys Corp NY$316,049 Executive Director $43,378 $36,649 2023
Rain City Rock Camp For Girls WA$317,881 Executive Dir. $76,489 $62,191 2024
United States Open Music Competition CA$318,411 President $1,000 $784 2024
Music In The Somerset Hills Inc NJ$318,720 Artistic Director $65,141 $52,819 2024
Baltimore Classical Guitar Society Inc MD$307,151 President $70,000 $57,901 2025
Colajazz Foundation SC$306,593 Director $45,000 $43,893 2023
Southwood Band Booster Club LA$305,948 Director $5,310 $5,310 2024
Market Square Concerts PA$321,305 Co-director $32,000 $28,233 2025
Sarasota Music Conservatory Inc FL$305,622 Director (Appt. 2/24) $600 $512 2024
Backcountry Concerts Inc CT$304,276 Artistic Direct $54,000 $47,339 2023
Master Musicians Festival Inc KY$323,246 Executive Di $54,799 $53,467 2024
Cellobello Inc MA$323,408 Executive Director $101,952 $83,201 2024
Mount Desert Festival Of Chamber Music ME$325,266 Executive Director $13,140 $12,302 2023
Overture Band Programs Inc WI$325,285 President/treas. $72,755 $67,226 2025
City Strings United Inc MA$301,126 President $72,220 $60,678 2023
Braver Players Musical Theater Foundation CA$326,173 President $50,000 $39,210 2024
Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation FL$326,367 President $41,958 $36,853 2023
Moon & Stars Foundation CO$326,461 Executive Director $40,498 $34,357 2025
Danbury Music Centre CT$327,415 President $14,615 $12,124 2025
Twin Cities Catalyst Music Inc MN$298,787 Executive Director $45,866 $42,374 2023
Make Music Alliance Inc NY$328,374 Executive Director $9,692 $7,748 2025
Goat In The Road Productions LA$329,022 Co-artistic Director $52,916 $51,552 2025
Utah Chamber Artists UT$297,112 Executive Direc $31,500 $30,143 2023
Bravo Waukegan IL$296,493 Executive Director (Terminated) $6,058 $5,409 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to LA 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 LA 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 default85th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)79th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted86th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted84th

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 (Lauren Lambert Tompkins) 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 188 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $72,000 is reasonable (approximately the 85th 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.