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

Western Montana Creative

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 832465407
MT · NTEE A40
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Stoney Samsoe, Executive Director / CEO ($59,523) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 80 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 50th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Stoney Samsoe — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

80 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 80 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,852 total compensation of comparable organizations → $149,897 $59,523
$20,66010th
$43,96725th
$59,402Median
$73,47275th
$85,15990th
$59,523This org · 50th
p10$20,660
p25$43,967
p50$59,402
p75$73,472
p90$85,159
$59,523

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 MT 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
Zocalo Public Square CA$391,536 Ceo $25,806 $20,672 2024
Monira Foundation NJ$401,991 Director/president/exec. D $114,577 $94,902 2024
Charlotte Art League Inc NC$402,149 Executive Dir. $13,077 $12,535 2024
Athens Photographic Project OH$377,453 Exec Director $86,050 $87,048 2023
Wave Pool Corp OH$403,451 Interim Executive Director $71,738 $70,488 2024
Art Feminism Inc MD$407,503 Executive Director $93,320 $80,937 2024
Center For Exploratory & Perceptual Arts NY$409,364 Former Executive Director $46,158 $39,836 2023
Studio 23 MI$368,779 Executive Director $58,000 $57,177 2023
Floyd Community Center For The Arts VA$412,595 Executive Director $58,117 $52,057 2024
The Center For Emerging Visual Artists Ltd PA$412,739 Executive Director $91,948 $87,576 2023
Teton Arts Council Inc ID$365,515 Executive Director $61,471 $60,664 2024
The Carving Studio & Sculpture Ctr VT$363,244 Executive Di $76,292 $73,341 2023
Craftstudies Inc VT$359,913 Executive Director $81,200 $73,866 2025
Oye Group Inc NY$357,335 Co-chairman $3,200 $2,683 2024
More Art Inc NY$424,215 Executive Dir. $40,000 $33,532 2024
Precita Eyes Muralists Association Inc CA$355,365 Executive Dir. $45,371 $37,419 2023
Bountiful Davis Art Foundation UT$354,072 Executive Director $81,000 $76,907 2024
Wilkes Art Gallery Inc NC$351,723 Executive Director $67,373 $64,581 2024
Public Art Saint Paul MN$349,666 Executive Di $73,245 $67,141 2024
Katy Artreach TX$348,050 Executive Di $46,350 $44,282 2023
Galveston Arts Center TX$433,471 Executive Director $54,250 $50,343 2024
Piedmont Craftsmen Inc NC$433,757 President An $47,125 $45,172 2024
Lenawee Council For The Visual Arts MI$346,125 Executive Director $68,750 $64,134 2025
Open Studio Project Inc IL$438,996 Executive Di $69,250 $61,530 2025
Maryland Art Place Inc MD$338,917 Executive Director $96,373 $86,054 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT 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 MT 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 default50th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)44th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted51st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted48th

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 (Stoney Samsoe) 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 80 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A40), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $59,523 is reasonable (approximately the 50th 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.