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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Montana Theatreworks Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841374984
MT · NTEE A650
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John Ludin, Executive Director / CEO ($57,600) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 217 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 23rd percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: John Ludin — reported title “Executive Direc”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

217 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 217 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$251 total compensation of comparable organizations → $288,028 $57,600
$35,87710th
$59,33725th
$71,346Median
$87,65975th
$106,80490th
$57,600This org · 23rd
p10$35,877
p25$59,337
p50$71,346
p75$87,659
p90$106,804
$57,600

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
Stageone Family Theatre Inc KY$1,139,633 Producing Artistic Director $123,165 $122,757 2024
42nd Street Moon CA$1,138,570 Executive Director $96,000 $79,174 2023
710 Main Street Inc NY$1,138,566 President/ceo $14,529 $12,539 2023
Winston-salem Theatre Alliance Inc NC$1,137,173 Artistic Dir $12,000 $11,842 2023
Farmers Alley Theatre MI$1,137,082 Executive Director $11,000 $10,533 2024
🔒 212 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

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 default23rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted24th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted23rd

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 217-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 10, 2026.