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

Seattle Jazz Fellowship

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 861265572
WA · NTEE A20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Thomas Marriott, Executive Director / CEO ($60,625) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 312 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 49th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

312 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 312 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$315 total compensation of comparable organizations → $256,882 $60,625
$14,23810th
$37,41725th
$61,644Median
$82,42175th
$101,23790th
$60,625This org · 49th
p10$14,238
p25$37,417
p50$61,644
p75$82,421
p90$101,237
$60,625

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
Decatur Arts Alliance Inc GA$408,137 Executive Di $67,125 $77,613 2023
Society Of American Business AZ$406,578 Executive Director $73,221 $80,976 2023
Lotus Education And Arts Foundation Inc IN$406,268 Exec Dir $31,513 $38,215 2023
Arts Bridging The Gap CA$406,175 Executive Director $50,708 $50,351 2023
Indian Cultural Heritage Foundation TX$404,841 Executive Di $17,000 $19,555 2023
Friends Of The Apostle Islands WI$411,004 Co-executive Director $43,740 $52,529 2023
Catskill Art Society Inc NY$411,785 Executive Director $70,000 $72,738 2023
French American Museum Exchange Inc CT$402,616 Exec Directo $102,183 $107,011 2024
Pesvebi Inc NY$412,518 President $2,800 $2,826 2024
Americans For The Arts Action Fund DC$412,729 President & Ceo - Until 05/24 $8,508 $8,339 2024
The People's Nonprofit Accelerator OR$413,022 Executive Director $77,830 $80,729 2024
Arkansas Climate League AR$413,023 Director $7,680 $9,642 2024
Bay Area Country Dance Society CA$413,563 Board Chair $1,694 $1,634 2024
Creative Santa Fe NM$413,644 Executive Director $109,583 $135,534 2023
Hui Hoolana HI$399,678 President/treas $42,324 $42,324 2024
Coming Together Festival Of Dance & NY$399,596 Executive Director $25,064 $26,044 2023
Performing Arts And Science Academy Pasa SC$416,091 Executive Director $41,921 $48,848 2024
Borrego Art Institute CA$417,523 Vice President $32,820 $31,654 2024
Black Mountain Swannanoa Valley Arts Center NC$417,832 Executive Director $72,000 $85,549 2023
Remix Education Inc KY$418,211 Vice President $69,600 $85,987 2023
Arhoolie Foundation CA$420,830 Executive Dir. $60,451 $60,026 2023
Artistic Freedom Initiative Inc NY$393,958 Co-executive Director & Secretary $157,338 $158,800 2024
Bell Arts Factory CA$392,272 Executive Director $62,972 $62,529 2023
Main Street Arts Inc NY$424,719 Executive Director & Curat $81,818 $85,018 2023
Bulk Space MI$424,846 Director $34,562 $39,845 2024

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 default49th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)54th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted50th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted47th

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 (Thomas Marriott) 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 312 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,625 is reasonable (approximately the 49th 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.