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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Poss Music Works Nfp

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 821686031
IL · NTEE A68
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of William Passalacqua, Executive Director / CEO ($20,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 162 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 22nd percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

162 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 162 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$118 total compensation of comparable organizations → $156,885 $20,000
$11,23110th
$23,67125th
$43,091Median
$61,35175th
$86,29590th
$20,000This org · 22nd
p10$11,231
p25$23,671
p50$43,091
p75$61,351
p90$86,295
$20,000

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 IL 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
Sound Impact VA$240,775 Secretary $32,945 $34,194 2023
Ansonia Music Outreach Organization Inc NY$240,243 President $44,974 $42,431 2024
Crescendo Inc CT$241,857 Founding And Artistic Director $30,000 $29,369 2024
The Mundi Project UT$239,581 Executive Di $46,910 $50,128 2024
Queen Bee Music Association NM$239,253 Executive Dir. $38,457 $43,187 2024
Ten Sleepless Knights Inc VI$239,048 President $8,380 $8,856 2023
Dallas Bach Society TX$238,812 Executive Director $20,000 $21,506 2023
Music Is Art NY$238,547 Executive Director $69,216 $65,302 2024
Songfest Inc OH$238,320 President $71,250 $78,791 2024
St Louis Classical Guitar MO$237,684 Executive Director $66,462 $75,668 2023
Asociacion Suzuki De Puerto Rico Inc PR$244,801 Administrator $35,132 $36,062 2024
Oregon Mozart Players OR$236,572 Executive Di $25,000 $23,615 2025
Bach Beethoven & Brahms Society Of Boston Inc MA$236,272 Director $1,803 $1,648 2025
Okc Improv Foundation OK$236,224 Executive Director $22,125 $25,436 2024
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $40,165 2024
Colorado Music Bridge CO$245,716 Co-exec Director $18,000 $18,553 2023
Campbell Learning Center Inc TX$246,185 Director $58,994 $63,434 2023
Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective Inc NY$235,048 Executive Director $19,200 $18,649 2023
Asheville Music School Sound Education NC$247,759 Ex Officio $43,403 $45,617 2025
Contemporaneous Inc NY$249,614 Director $30,057 $28,357 2024
Mallarme Chamber Players Inc NC$249,676 Artistic Director $77,004 $83,073 2024
Montana Chamber Music Society MT$249,956 Director $108 $118 2025
The Tidewater Winds VA$228,993 Executive Di $52,499 $54,488 2023
American Harp Society Inc MA$254,201 Executive Director $59,600 $57,570 2023
Guardians Of Sound PA$254,493 Executive Director $48,200 $50,185 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IL cost of living and 2025 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 IL 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 default22nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)22nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted22nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted22nd

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 (William Passalacqua) 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 162 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $20,000 is reasonable (approximately the 22nd 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.