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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

O Positive Festival Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 900882142
NY · NTEE A99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Aimee Gardner, Executive Director / CEO ($73,496) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 97 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 58th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Aimee Gardner — reported title “DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

97 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 97 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,307 total compensation of comparable organizations → $312,029 $73,496
$14,33210th
$41,63225th
$67,000Median
$88,36775th
$122,51190th
$73,496This org · 58th
p10$14,332
p25$41,632
p50$67,000
p75$88,367
p90$122,511
$73,496

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 NY 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
Arizona Band & Orchestra Directors Association AZ$483,424 Executive Director $66,867 $69,331 2025
Chicago City Theatre Company IL$483,107 Managing Director $60,150 $65,441 2024
Line 4 Line LA$485,739 Executive Di $60,063 $73,191 2024
Art Jewelry Forum VA$490,096 Executive Director $45,497 $48,614 2024
Drumming For Your Life Institute CA$473,746 President $51,200 $50,371 2023
San Francisco Classical Voice CA$494,641 Exec Director $121,000 $115,627 2024
Leadership Charlotte NC$472,128 Executive Director $111,405 $124,104 2025
Youth Outreach And Learning Institute CA$497,001 Castro $35,160 $33,599 2024
The Word A Storytelling Sanctuary Inc CO$470,305 Exec Dir $85,000 $87,872 2025
Mosaic Multicultural Foundation WA$467,330 Vice President $119,319 $118,220 2024
Better Business Bureau Serving The CA$501,477 Secretary/coo $48,259 $46,116 2024
Minnesota Fringe Festival MN$502,542 Executive Director $72,461 $79,236 2024
American Women Artists TN$464,067 Executive Director Until 11/08/2024 $34,975 $39,635 2025
Side Street Projects CA$463,757 Executive Director $76,076 $72,698 2024
Ramsey County Library Friends MN$504,753 Ex Dir - Jul $30,729 $33,602 2024
The Story Collider Inc NY$461,809 Executive Dir. $97,565 $97,565 2024
Women Wonder Writers CA$460,237 Lead Instructor $42,317 $41,632 2023
Open Space For Arts & Community WA$509,476 Executive Director $81,053 $80,307 2024
Winston-salem Mixxer Inc NC$510,106 Executive Director $41,998 $48,023 2024
Arts For Life NC$510,660 Executive Director $61,441 $70,256 2024
Ohio Educational Support Group OH$512,361 Trustee $44,716 $52,412 2024
Cosmos Gakuin Japanese School CA$513,791 Director And President $48,000 $44,686 2025
San Angelo Broadway Academy Youth TX$450,310 President $53,235 $58,931 2024
Sutter County Parent Network CA$444,405 Co-executive Director $56,264 $53,766 2024
Dayton Public Access Television Inc OH$523,391 Executive Director $70,000 $82,048 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default58th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)63rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted58th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted53rd

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 (Aimee Gardner) 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 97 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $73,496 is reasonable (approximately the 58th 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.