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

Small School Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 884338344
NC · NTEE A25
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John P Reuer, Executive Director / CEO ($102,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 116 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 97th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: John P Reuer — reported title “Chairman”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

116 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 116 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$148 total compensation of comparable organizations → $132,943 $102,000
$13,25910th
$24,78125th
$38,985Median
$55,35575th
$73,93890th
$102,000This org · 97th
p10$13,259
p25$24,781
p50$38,985
p75$55,355
p90$73,938
$102,000

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 NC 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
Artists Open Studio Inc OH$211,752 Executive Di $19,600 $20,091 2024
Day Ii Day Foundation Inc CA$213,010 President & Ceo $60,500 $52,053 2023
Michigan Arts Access MI$213,518 Executive Di $46,000 $45,951 2024
Hawkeye Indian Cultural Center Inc NC$213,614 Executive Dir. $1,400 $1,364 2025
National Parks Arts Foundation NM$214,695 President $57,500 $59,853 2024
Fireweed Community Woodshop MN$209,199 Pollinator $39,997 $39,379 2023
Ruckusroots Inc CA$215,420 Executive Director $65,799 $56,613 2023
Northwest Arts Center WA$208,548 Executive Dir. $27,000 $24,086 2023
Frank Hamilton School Inc GA$216,509 Executive Director $18,200 $17,711 2024
Arts A L Inc FL$207,356 Executive Director $80,250 $75,116 2023
Freedom Arts And Education Center MO$216,773 Executive Director $28,940 $30,541 2023
Scalehouse OR$216,997 Executive Director $20,000 $17,975 2024
Humanity Hale HI$206,626 Executive Dir. $27,580 $24,604 2023
Creative Hearts Inc NY$218,781 Director $33,800 $29,559 2024
Extra Mile Student Center WA$218,788 Executive Director $60,000 $53,524 2023
Instruments 4 Africa TX$204,158 Trustee $56,000 $55,815 2023
Lamb Center For Arts And Healing VA$220,347 Executive Dir. $78,000 $75,041 2023
North Country Studio Workshops Inc NH$221,522 Exec. Director $20,024 $17,433 2025
Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center WA$202,380 Executive Director $50,500 $45,050 2023
Naperville Art League IL$201,956 Director $10,676 $10,458 2023
Gustavo Dudamel Foundation Inc NY$222,977 Director Of Programs $42,000 $37,816 2023
Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet NY$223,805 Executive Di $42,482 $38,250 2023
Turning The Wheel Productions Inc CO$224,442 Facilitatorcoordinator $37,338 $35,674 2023
Artworks For Milwaukee Inc WI$224,879 Executive Director $54,615 $55,202 2024
Massachusetts Educational Theater MA$199,088 Exec Director (Ex-officio) $23,004 $20,597 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NC 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 NC 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 default97th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)97th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted98th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted95th

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 (John P Reuer) 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 116 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A25), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $102,000 is reasonable (approximately the 97th 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.