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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Friends Of The Garden Theater

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 832531689
MI · NTEE A31
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Katie Jones, Executive Director / CEO ($78,405) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 65 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 66th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

65 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 65 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,451 total compensation of comparable organizations → $195,410 $78,405
$27,78810th
$45,17525th
$61,369Median
$93,18275th
$126,35190th
$78,405This org · 66th
p10$27,788
p25$45,175
p50$61,369
p75$93,182
p90$126,351
$78,405

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 MI 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
Schoolyard Films Inc FL$420,840 Executive Director $120,000 $109,217 2024
Athol-orange Community Television Inc MA$423,553 Executive Director $79,940 $71,652 2023
Three Generations Inc NY$413,975 Founder $67,409 $59,014 2024
Port Townsend Film Institute WA$412,527 Executive Dir. $83,500 $72,428 2024
Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival CA$410,985 Executive Director $166,001 $142,977 2023
Dallas Film Society Inc TX$432,873 Chief Executive Officer & Board Member $33,333 $33,259 2023
Docs In Progress Inc MD$434,981 Ceo $38,785 $35,130 2024
Boston Jewish Film Inc MA$436,434 Executive Director $107,031 $93,182 2024
Transformative Culture Project Inc MA$436,564 Executive Director $82,503 $69,976 2025
Visart Inc NC$400,703 Executive Director $39,224 $39,266 2024
Giant Screen Cinema Association NC$444,229 Executive Director $140,492 $140,641 2024
Phoenix Film Foundation AZ$450,731 Non-voting Exec. Director $60,740 $56,595 2024
Level Ground CA$451,528 Co-director $53,999 $45,175 2024
Okeefe Educational Media MS$452,634 Executive Director $72,800 $80,874 2023
Let It Ripple Inc CA$454,172 President $158,967 $132,990 2024
The Kindling Group IL$386,818 Executive Director $88,200 $86,490 2023
Aitysh Usa CA$386,691 Executive Director $68,000 $58,569 2023
The Current Media Inc LA$457,162 Director $54,583 $58,230 2024
Dc Independent Film Festival DC$381,791 Executive Director $40,000 $34,007 2024
Sun Valley Film Festival Inc ID$379,947 Chairman/ed $42,900 $44,214 2024
Pretty Human Inc CO$464,234 President $184,500 $171,399 2024
Rocky Mountain Womens Film Institute CO$465,519 Executive Director $84,000 $76,024 2025
The Film Noir Foundation CA$466,738 President $18,450 $15,435 2024
Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film NY$373,762 Pres & Exec Dir $65,000 $56,905 2024
Video Volunteers NY$469,821 Ceo, Director $40,835 $35,750 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI 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 MI 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 default66th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)62nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted66th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted66th

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 (Katie Jones) 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 65 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A31), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $78,405 is reasonable (approximately the 66th 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.