Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Marine Mills Folk School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 830646600
MN · NTEE A70
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kate Seitz, Executive Director / CEO ($23,336) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 42 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 24th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Kate Seitz — reported title “PT EXEC DIRE”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

42 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 42 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$262 total compensation of comparable organizations → $110,465 $23,336
$6,46510th
$26,48925th
$46,284Median
$62,25475th
$84,60290th
$23,336This org · 24th
p10$6,465
p25$26,489
p50$46,284
p75$62,254
p90$84,602
$23,336

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 MN 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
Project Sycamore A Nfp Corporation TX$273,382 Executive Director $84,000 $85,037 2023
Split This Rock Inc DC$267,649 Director $64,281 $57,087 2023
Christian Home Educators Assn Of Calif CA$278,232 Treasurer $300 $262 2023
Lama Foundation NM$280,456 Director $1,008 $1,097 2023
American Comparative Literature IL$285,428 Chief Admin Off $85,586 $85,153 2023
Faulkner Morgan Archive KY$288,069 President & Executive Director $52,771 $57,378 2023
Western Political Science Association OR$288,787 Executive Dir. $7,000 $6,390 2024
Atlanta Writers Club GA$289,485 Executive Director $31,500 $32,054 2023
Roaring Fork Center For Community CO$249,768 Executive Director $52,772 $49,741 2024
Zbigniew Herbert Polish Supplementary School Of Li Inc NY$244,930 Principal/ceo $17,460 $15,109 2025
Ether Sea Projects Inc Dba Litmus Press NY$243,647 Executive Dir. $22,000 $19,542 2024
Helping Link WA$302,762 Executive Director $125,517 $110,465 2024
The Aftermath Project Inc CA$303,880 Secretary $51,000 $44,568 2023
Small Press Traffic Literary Arts Center CA$240,398 Executive Dir. $78,000 $64,501 2025
Christian Womens Job Corps Of Tyler Inc TX$305,892 Executive Dir. $71,340 $70,148 2024
Northmont Fellowship Association PA$238,368 President $13,000 $12,744 2024
Family Cornerstones Inc TN$237,771 Exec. Director $51,300 $53,006 2024
Association Of Bookmobile & IA$307,645 Executive Director $46,519 $50,069 2024
Arborlea Study Center TX$308,165 Treasurer $27,752 $28,095 2023
Missoula Writing Collaborative MT$309,975 Prev Exec. Dir. $34,808 $36,883 2024
Living Tongues Institute OR$310,319 President $42,000 $39,473 2023
The Common Acre WA$232,865 Executive Dir. $66,500 $60,254 2023
Archaeology In The Community DC$316,182 Executive Director $54,049 $48,000 2023
The Center For Khmer Studies Inc DC$317,166 President & Ceo $50,000 $44,404 2023
Acton Chinese Language School MA$227,508 Principle $5,434 $4,676 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN 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 MN 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 default24th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)24th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted26th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted21st

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 (Kate Seitz) 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 42 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $23,336 is reasonable (approximately the 24th 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.