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

The Merc Playhouse Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 911891371
WA · NTEE W40Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kira Wood-cramer, Executive Director / CEO ($30,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 173 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 51st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Kira Wood-cramer — reported title “Former Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

173 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 173 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$57 total compensation of comparable organizations → $326,814 $30,000
$3,74410th
$13,29825th
$28,832Median
$58,33375th
$95,87490th
$30,000This org · 51st
p10$3,744
p25$13,298
p50$28,832
p75$58,333
p90$95,874
$30,000

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 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
Blessing The Children International MI$145,936 President $48,000 $55,338 2024
Lions Foundation Of Victoria MN$145,476 Gambling Manager $16,000 $17,659 2024
Mettler Valley Mutual Water Co Inc CA$145,149 Secretary $16,838 $16,719 2023
White Oak Shores Sewer Service Corporation TX$147,166 Secretary/treasurer $7,770 $8,681 2024
The Windrose Project Inc CA$147,341 Director/exe $52,000 $51,634 2023
Valhalla Veterans Services PA$144,845 Executive Director $24,000 $26,732 2024
Veterans Of Foreign Wars Of The United States Inc NY$147,445 Bartender/janitorial $17,972 $18,139 2024
Wa State Dept Of Transportation WA$144,676 Executive Di $18,000 $18,532 2023
American Legion NY$147,565 Commander $15,995 $15,728 2025
Nebraska Human Resources Research NE$148,321 Executive Director $22,824 $28,229 2023
Aurora Firefighters Credit Union IL$143,304 Head Teller $14,130 $15,516 2024
Semper Fi Flo Foundation MN$143,143 Executive Director $54,000 $58,061 2025
Operation Barnabas Inc FL$149,300 Ceo $24,000 $25,927 2023
Acworth & Kennesaw Post 5408 Veterans Of Foreign W GA$142,715 Adjutant $50 $57 2023
American Liberty Foundation WI$150,000 Treasurer $5,200 $6,245 2023
Northwest Wisconsin Business Development WI$150,039 Fiscal Manager $44,333 $51,714 2024
Montana Family Foundation Inc MT$141,786 President/ Ceo $30,291 $37,548 2023
The Registration Project Inc DC$141,445 Director/treasurer $3,400 $3,332 2024
Reil PA$151,011 Executive Director $49,253 $54,860 2024
Veterans Of Foreign Wars Of The ME$151,224 Commander $300 $336 2024
Lexington Vfw Post 8738 SC$151,619 Canteen Manager $25,476 $29,686 2024
American Legion Post 401 OH$140,179 1st Vice Com $4,000 $4,872 2023
American Legion Post 169 Inc MI$139,586 Commander, Finance Officer $2,100 $2,492 2023
Judicial Action Group AL$152,760 Chairman $76,500 $95,037 2023
Challenge America CO$138,619 Founder & Ce $22,917 $25,269 2023

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 default51st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)53rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted53rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted45th

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 (Kira Wood-cramer) 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 173 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (W), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $30,000 is reasonable (approximately the 51st 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.