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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Voices

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813931536
CO · NTEE A25
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mintze Wu, Executive Director / CEO ($72,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 87th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$852 total compensation of comparable organizations → $118,566 $72,000
$17,83110th
$25,46325th
$38,454Median
$57,77775th
$78,54290th
$72,000This org · 87th
p10$17,831
p25$25,463
p50$38,454
p75$57,777
p90$78,542
$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 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
Beyond The Grade TX$154,023 Executive Director $117,012 $118,566 2024
Articulture MN$158,528 Executive Dir. $37,316 $38,454 2023
Childrens Art Studio DC$158,586 Chair $130,000 $115,558 2024
Educarte Incorporated MD$159,450 Executive Direc $25,363 $24,019 2024
Illustration Institute ME$147,443 Co Founder $37,692 $38,232 2024
Emergent Arts AR$161,211 Executive Director $26,940 $30,674 2024
Essex Youth Theater Inc NJ$145,404 Artistic Director And General Manager $75,712 $68,475 2024
Susan Kathleen Black Foundation Inc TX$142,600 Exec Director $29,333 $30,600 2023
Great River Taoist Center Inc VA$142,450 Director $36,000 $35,210 2024
National Art Education Foundation VA$168,143 Secretary/treasurer $29,651 $29,857 2023
Xyayx The Movement Inc NY$139,000 Program Leader $12,335 $11,624 2023
Dstl Arts CA$137,332 Founder, Executive Director; President $14,325 $12,530 2024
Pulse Arts Inc CA$136,003 Executive Director $78,600 $68,751 2024
Unruly Arts OH$174,101 Executive Director $62,400 $68,925 2023
La A Schools Inc LA$174,496 Executive Director $56,667 $65,074 2023
Institute 193 Incorporated KY$176,991 Board Chair $25,000 $28,011 2023
Arts Access South Carolina SC$130,873 Executive Di $50,500 $54,943 2023
Joy Engine Inc WI$181,262 Executive Director $87,550 $92,619 2024
Shakespearean Youth Theater Company MN$124,596 Managing Director $36,000 $37,098 2023
The Walter Hive AZ$123,495 Executive Director $75,790 $76,015 2023
The Mountain Artists Guild Inc AZ$184,868 Executive Dir. $31,701 $31,795 2023
Center Grove Fine Arts Academy Inc IN$185,452 Executive Dir. $24,000 $26,395 2023
Appalachian Children's Chorus Inc WV$185,729 Executive Director $46,000 $49,152 2025
Catholic Literary Arts TX$187,228 President And Founder $19,500 $19,759 2024
Working Artists And The Greater Economy Inc NY$120,266 Core Organizer $48,396 $45,607 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 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 default87th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)84th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted89th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted85th

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 (Mintze Wu) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A25), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $72,000 is reasonable (approximately the 87th 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.