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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

River West Theatre Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 831012845
IN · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jordan Schwartz, Executive Director / CEO ($27,692) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 293 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 41st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Jordan Schwartz — reported title “PRODUCING DI”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

293 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 293 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$658 total compensation of comparable organizations → $125,332 $27,692
$5,49810th
$16,68225th
$34,043Median
$50,64175th
$61,46790th
$27,692This org · 41st
p10$5,498
p25$16,682
p50$34,043
p75$50,641
p90$61,467
$27,692

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 IN 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
National Queer Theater NY$273,780 Director $39,748 $35,065 2023
Lower Bottom Playaz Inc CA$273,901 Executive Director $111,275 $93,807 2023
Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble NJ$274,068 President $50,700 $41,818 2025
The Movement Theatre Company Inc NY$274,101 President $67,980 $58,251 2024
Kitchen Dog Theater TX$272,394 Managing Director $47,500 $46,387 2023
Stageworks On The Hudson Inc NY$272,369 Exec. Artist $32,417 $28,598 2023
The Whitney Players Inc CT$275,173 Vice-president $16,200 $14,032 2025
Stevie Rays Theatre Company MN$272,086 Executive Director $72,080 $67,538 2024
Revival Theatre Company IA$276,486 Co-founder $6,000 $6,414 2023
The Roots And Wings Project CA$270,111 President $20,000 $16,377 2024
Mohawk Valley Center For The Arts Inc NY$269,570 Executive Director $48,567 $40,543 2025
Outcry Theatre Inc TX$268,753 Artistic Dir $37,440 $35,514 2024
4 Community Theatre MN$268,606 Executive Artistic Director $14,200 $13,305 2024
Pulse Ensemble Theatre Inc NY$278,685 President $6,600 $5,822 2023
Invictus Theatre IL$278,797 President And Artistic Director $22,028 $20,536 2024
Water People Theater Group Nfp IL$279,163 Exec Artistic Director $61,200 $57,054 2024
Friends Of The Penn Inc MI$267,965 Executive Director $33,075 $33,329 2023
Green Bay Community Theater Inc WI$266,954 President $800 $771 2025
The Gift Theatre Company IL$280,448 Managing Director $41,346 $38,545 2024
Franklin Stock Company NY$266,791 Ex-officio/ad $50,000 $44,109 2023
Downriver Youth Performing Arts Center MI$266,493 Director/programming $11,649 $11,402 2024
Music Theatre West UT$266,101 Managing Director $9,000 $8,510 2025
The Williams Project WA$265,923 President $41,350 $36,142 2023
Live Oak Theatre Company Inc FL$281,507 President $7,376 $6,765 2023
Rising Star Theatre Company IA$281,633 Director/artistic And Education Director $39,000 $41,689 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IN 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 IN 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 default41st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)38th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted42nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted41st

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 (Jordan Schwartz) 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 293 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $27,692 is reasonable (approximately the 41st 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.