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

Arizona Arts Circle Ltd

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 861037482
AZ · NTEE A12
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jill Christenholz, Executive Director / CEO ($60,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 659 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 85th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Jill Christenholz — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

659 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 659 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$240 total compensation of comparable organizations → $463,510 $60,000
$4,48610th
$13,26325th
$27,959Median
$48,65275th
$68,20190th
$60,000This org · 85th
p10$4,486
p25$13,263
p50$27,959
p75$48,652
p90$68,201
$60,000

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 AZ 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
Mendota Museum & Historical Society IL$116,319 Director $19,500 $19,934 2024
Burnett County Historical Society Inc WI$116,296 Executive Director $6,719 $7,511 2023
Korean American Youth Performing CA$116,512 President $30,000 $27,732 2023
Through The Flower Corporation NM$116,522 Executive Di $35,000 $39,143 2024
Aviation Hall Of Fame And Museum Of New Jersey NJ$116,623 Executive Director $40,700 $37,785 2024
Surfrider Spirit Sessions HI$116,087 Executive Director $60,039 $57,543 2023
Ccff - Crystal Clear Film Foundation TX$115,902 Treasurer $1,100 $1,177 2023
Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra NC$115,843 Executive Director (Ex-officio) $25,440 $27,332 2024
Straus Historical Society NY$115,721 Executive Director $42,000 $39,463 2024
Mud Creek Players Inc IN$117,062 Director $332 $364 2024
Aquila Theatre Company NY$115,626 Artistic Director $134,120 $122,770 2025
Youth Singers Of The Bay Area TX$117,176 Artistic Director $13,929 $14,114 2025
Mexican Institute Of Greater Houston Inc TX$117,406 President $4,375 $4,685 2023
Persian Cultural Center Inc VA$117,428 President $42,480 $43,909 2023
Center For Austin Independent Journalism TX$115,103 Board Member $46,667 $48,539 2024
Lake County Symphony CA$114,856 President $1,230 $1,104 2024
Decentered Arts CA$114,614 Treasurer $78,692 $70,655 2024
Wcuw Inc MA$118,159 Executive Director $50,800 $47,467 2024
Humanities Iowa IA$114,597 Executive Di $105,824 $120,482 2024
Asian American Unity Coalition Inc MN$114,560 Officer $1,890 $1,942 2024
The George Joseph And Susie Ezzell Atta Memorial Library Inc AL$118,265 Director, President $2,555 $2,870 2024
Chicago Fashion Development IL$114,325 Executive Director $40,000 $42,097 2023
Gloatl Inc GA$114,312 Founding Artist $14,000 $15,070 2023
Veterans Memorial Museum CA$113,890 Ceo/director $30,000 $27,732 2023
Escape Artists Foundation Inc GA$113,870 Editor/board Member $1,500 $1,614 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to AZ 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 AZ 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 default85th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)85th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted87th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted81st

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 (Jill Christenholz) 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 659 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,000 is reasonable (approximately the 85th 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.