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

Artistic Freedom Initiative Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 833289658
NY · NTEE A20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ashley Tucker, Executive Director / CEO ($157,338) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 46 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Ashley Tucker — reported title “Co-Executive Director & Secretary”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

46 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 46 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,800 total compensation of comparable organizations → $144,410 $157,338
$13,89910th
$30,31225th
$57,056Median
$71,78475th
$96,33990th
$157,338This org · 100th
p10$13,899
p25$30,312
p50$57,056
p75$71,784
p90$96,339
$157,338

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 NY 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
Coming Together Festival Of Dance & NY$399,596 Executive Director $25,064 $25,804 2023
Ugly Duckling Presse Ltd NY$381,176 Press Manager $58,125 $58,125 2024
Statement Arts Inc NY$379,950 Secretary $60,818 $60,818 2024
Catskill Art Society Inc NY$411,785 Executive Director $70,000 $72,068 2023
Pesvebi Inc NY$412,518 President $2,800 $2,800 2024
Main Street Arts Inc NY$424,719 Executive Director & Curat $81,818 $84,235 2023
Rochester Folk Art Guild Inc NY$427,098 Treasurer $15,000 $15,443 2023
Space On The Farminc NY$359,689 Executive Director (Left 2024) $70,750 $70,750 2024
The Brooklyn Steppers Inc NY$359,620 Executive Director $41,500 $40,430 2025
Nars Foundation Inc NY$355,287 Founding Director $43,002 $44,272 2023
Inwood Art Works Inc NY$353,982 Chairman $55,000 $56,625 2023
Bailey's Cafe Inc NY$353,023 Executive Di $18,750 $19,304 2023
Center For Latter-day Saint Arts Inc NY$438,859 Executive Director $144,410 $144,410 2024
Pharos The International Photo Archives Association NY$343,867 Executive Director $33,405 $34,392 2023
Scool Sounds Inc NY$447,788 Executive Dir. $70,702 $70,702 2024
Monica Bill Barnes & Company Inc NY$449,169 Founder/artistic Director $105,761 $105,761 2024
The Association For Cultural Equity Inc NY$337,589 Executive Director $68,436 $68,436 2024
Origami Usa Inc NY$337,288 President $30,000 $30,000 2024
Jack Arts Inc NY$329,150 Co-director $68,896 $70,931 2023
Parent Child Relationship Association Inc NY$459,625 Executive Director $57,487 $57,487 2024
World Around Inc NY$461,660 Executive Director $120,000 $123,544 2023
Raga Massive Inc NY$323,178 Executive Director $17,550 $18,068 2023
Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Inc NY$468,488 Executive Director $84,423 $86,917 2023
Ma's House & Bipoc Art Studio Inc NY$317,270 President $26,125 $26,125 2024
Dorill Initiative Inc NY$314,146 Executive Director $9,149 $9,419 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted100th

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 (Ashley Tucker) 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 46 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $157,338 is reasonable (approximately the 100th 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.