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

Denver Architecture Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841175093
CO · NTEE A99M
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Pauline Herrera Until 7823, Executive Director / CEO ($66,975) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 84 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Pauline Herrera Until 7823 — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

84 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 84 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$737 total compensation of comparable organizations → $107,091 $66,975
$11,09210th
$25,86525th
$45,509Median
$59,91575th
$73,13690th
$66,975This org · 81st
p10$11,092
p25$25,865
p50$45,509
p75$59,915
p90$73,136
$66,975

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 CO 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
Mariachi Womens Foundation CA$253,146 Executive Dir. $50,000 $45,027 2023
Ssj Inc OR$254,528 Executive Dir. $66,600 $64,501 2023
Bailey Foundation MO$255,540 Executive Director $44,880 $49,573 2023
Territory Nfp IL$249,132 Executive Director $66,221 $65,947 2024
Sacred Lands Conservancy WA$258,606 President $16,800 $15,236 2024
Arts In Ct CT$246,837 Executive Di $74,366 $72,717 2023
Compass Rose Theater Inc MD$245,776 Executive Di $62,500 $59,189 2024
Art Camp 504 LA$262,363 Executive Director $51,150 $57,054 2024
Studio 395 Foundation CA$265,130 Ceo $39,520 $34,568 2024
Love Bldg Incorporated MI$268,289 Executive Director 18 Million Rising $11,004 $11,845 2023
Center Stage Inc MS$269,178 Artistic Director $33,034 $36,308 2025
Southern Shakespeare Company FL$269,432 Executive Director $41,082 $39,093 2024
On Our Own Of Roanoke Valley Inc VA$269,820 Exec Director $56,423 $55,185 2024
Wendys Subway Inc NY$235,887 President $805 $737 2024
Teen Start Program OH$270,544 Greathouse $10,367 $11,451 2023
Create Wisconsin Inc WI$270,848 Executive Dir. $61,667 $65,238 2024
Korea Creative Content Agency Inc NY$271,047 President $11,950 $10,938 2024
National Basketry Organization Inc MA$232,603 President $1,035 $970 2023
Wi Fairs Inc WI$274,828 Executive Di $33,000 $34,911 2024
Academy Of Criminal Sciences MD$275,171 Exec. Dir. $77,000 $72,921 2024
Blindspot Collective CA$229,118 Director $21,925 $19,744 2023
Education & Community CO$228,000 Executive Director $52,500 $52,500 2023
Arts In Health Ocala Metro Inc FL$278,656 Executive Di $75,140 $73,615 2023
Hear Now Music Festival CA$280,055 President And Artistic Direct $40,500 $36,472 2023
Minnesota Council Of Teachers Of Mathematics MN$281,564 Executive Director $11,220 $11,562 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO cost of living and 2023 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 CO 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)81st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted76th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted79th

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 (Pauline Herrera Until 7823) 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 84 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $66,975 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.