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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Friends Of The Orchestra

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813913615
CO · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jennifer Grathwohl, Executive Director / CEO ($29,345) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 177 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 19th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

177 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 177 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$588 total compensation of comparable organizations → $134,313 $29,345
$14,72610th
$34,61525th
$56,072Median
$75,64975th
$94,37090th
$29,345This org · 19th
p10$14,726
p25$34,615
p50$56,072
p75$75,649
p90$94,370
$29,345

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 CO 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
Chamber Music Monterey Bay CA$373,584 Operations Manager $69,075 $62,204 2024
Girls Rock Dc Inc DC$375,969 Executive Director $61,270 $56,072 2024
Corpsvets Inc GA$376,069 Executive Director $16,196 $16,983 2024
Fontana Chamber Arts MI$371,972 Director $53,523 $56,128 2025
Free Guitars 4 Kids MN$369,229 Executive Director $112,198 $119,034 2023
Third Angle New Music Ensemble OR$368,972 Executive Director $65,740 $63,668 2024
Take Me To The River Education CA$368,685 Board Member $37,500 $34,768 2023
Global Arts Corporation CA$380,948 Ceo $63,009 $56,742 2024
Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival I VT$367,354 Executive Director $70,000 $75,649 2023
Newberry Consort Nfp IL$365,908 Executive Director $6,235 $6,393 2024
Aiken Music Festival SC$383,906 Executive Di $75,000 $81,599 2024
Summit Choral Society Inc OH$385,171 Executive Dir. $80,720 $89,161 2024
American Choral Directors Association Of MN$386,926 Executive Director $98,504 $98,891 2025
Columbia Music Festival Association SC$388,941 Exec Director $81,250 $88,399 2024
Ted Brown Music Outreach WA$389,619 Executive Director $36,723 $34,288 2024
Juneau Jazz & Classics AK$390,873 Executive Di $73,253 $75,195 2023
Little Village Foundation CA$392,844 Executive Director $86,000 $79,733 2023
Camarada Inc CA$356,020 Executive Director $72,750 $63,825 2025
Porchfest Dc DC$394,155 Co-executive Director $32,092 $30,237 2023
One Voice Mission CO$354,410 Executive Di $67,200 $67,200 2024
Music In Common Inc GA$395,049 Executive Dir. $60,000 $62,916 2024
We Make Noise Inc AZ$395,290 President $52,285 $52,440 2024
Redtone Records CA$395,896 Ed/pres/boar $14,230 $13,193 2023
Bach Concert Series Inc MD$397,487 Music Director $40,300 $39,293 2024
Choral Masterworks Festival Inc FL$397,541 Executive Director $59,815 $57,091 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 CO 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 default19th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted20th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted19th

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 (Jennifer Grathwohl) 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 177 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $29,345 is reasonable (approximately the 19th 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.