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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Music City Artist Development

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 830669155
CA · NTEE A68
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Aprill Lacey, Executive Director / CEO ($6,955) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 20 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 10th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

20 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 20 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,000 total compensation of comparable organizations → $106,000 $6,955
$13,39110th
$38,45525th
$46,275Median
$70,57675th
$94,28190th
$6,955This org · 10th
p10$13,391
p25$38,455
p50$46,275
p75$70,576
p90$94,281
$6,955

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 CA 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
Envelop CA$267,859 Executive Dir. $106,000 $106,000 2024
Music In Place CA$258,414 Mkting Adm Off. $39,708 $39,708 2024
Sweetwater Music Hall Inc CA$282,170 Executive Dir. $68,454 $70,476 2023
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $44,550 2024
Los Angeles Youth Symphony Orchestra CA$293,994 President And Program Director $102,000 $105,013 2023
Taiko Community Alliance CA$224,568 Executive Director $38,967 $38,967 2024
Piano Spheres CA$222,590 Executive Director $39,000 $37,995 2025
Hausmann Quartet Foundation CA$221,963 President $25,917 $25,917 2024
United States Open Music Competition CA$318,411 President $1,000 $1,000 2024
Braver Players Musical Theater Foundation CA$326,173 President $50,000 $50,000 2024
International Horn Society CA$199,373 Executive Director $44,000 $44,000 2024
Music At Kohl Mansion Inc CA$336,836 Exec. Dir. $90,417 $93,088 2023
Sacraprofana Inc CA$188,463 Director $2,000 $2,059 2023
Jacarandamusic CA$347,407 Artistic & E $48,000 $48,000 2024
Camarada Inc CA$356,020 Executive Director $72,750 $70,875 2025
Take Me To The River Education CA$368,685 Board Member $37,500 $38,608 2023
Chamber Music Monterey Bay CA$373,584 Operations Manager $69,075 $69,075 2024
Global Arts Corporation CA$380,948 Ceo $63,009 $63,009 2024
Little Village Foundation CA$392,844 Executive Director $86,000 $88,540 2023
Redtone Records CA$395,896 Ed/pres/boar $14,230 $14,650 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default10th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)10th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted10th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted10th

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 (Aprill Lacey) 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 20 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $6,955 is reasonable (approximately the 10th 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.