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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Ripple Productions

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 861081027
WA · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Terry Joe Podgorski, Executive Director / CEO ($69,672) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 269 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Terry Joe Podgorski — reported title “co-Executive Artistic Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

269 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 269 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$774 total compensation of comparable organizations → $147,625 $69,672
$5,21810th
$16,25725th
$38,093Median
$56,94175th
$70,18990th
$69,672This org · 89th
p10$5,218
p25$16,257
p50$38,093
p75$56,941
p90$70,189
$69,672

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 WA 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
The Newnan Community Theatre GA$248,684 Executive Di $46,500 $50,876 2025
Poetry Society Of New York Inc NY$248,150 Chair, Treasurer & C.e.o. $48,700 $49,153 2024
Broken Box Mime Theater NY$248,740 Artistic Director $77,258 $80,279 2023
Eta Creative Arts Foundation IL$249,064 Executive Director $75,000 $84,788 2023
Aiken Performing Arts Group Inc SC$249,120 Executive Director $30,037 $34,098 2025
Brightside Theatre Inc IL$249,762 Artistic Director $20,175 $22,808 2023
Hell In A Handbag Productions IL$250,289 Treasurer $43,531 $47,800 2024
Theatre Off Jackson WA$250,342 Executive Director $60,833 $62,630 2023
New York Theatre Barn Incorporated NY$245,252 General Manager $4,500 $4,676 2023
Oye Palaver Hut Inc DC$245,225 Executive Director $24,000 $23,523 2024
Notch Theatre Company NY$245,219 President/artistic Director $50,000 $50,465 2024
Garrison Players Inc NH$244,611 President $3,000 $3,015 2025
City Lit Theatre Company IL$244,530 Artistic Dir $22,308 $24,496 2024
Hopewell Valley Children's Theatre Inc NJ$244,506 Executive Director $21,867 $21,807 2024
Cardboard Playhouse Theatre Company NM$244,506 Co-artistic Director $24,500 $30,302 2023
Common Ground Theatre CA$252,965 Artist Director $30,280 $29,204 2024
Schaumburg On Stage IL$253,256 Program Dire $6,587 $7,233 2024
Dreams Of Hope PA$254,163 Former Officer $63,402 $72,706 2023
Corsicana Community Playhouse Inc TX$254,265 Exc Dir $30,805 $34,418 2024
Clark Youth Theatre Incorporated OK$254,281 Exec. Director $34,125 $43,210 2023
Fairfield Center Stage Inc CT$255,393 Ceo $31,398 $32,882 2024
Exposed Brick Theatre MN$238,127 Co-artistic Director $55,000 $62,495 2023
Act Out Theatre Company CA$237,977 Executive Director $51,923 $50,078 2024
Pushpush Arts Company GA$259,645 Co Director $5,849 $6,569 2024
Looking For Lilith KY$237,210 Co-artistic Director $23,142 $27,054 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)91st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted90th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted89th

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 (Terry Joe Podgorski) 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 269 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $69,672 is reasonable (approximately the 89th 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.