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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Piano Spheres

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 912106973
CA · NTEE A68
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jeff Gauthier, Executive Director / CEO ($39,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 18 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 33rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Jeff Gauthier — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

18 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 18 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,026 total compensation of comparable organizations → $108,805 $39,000
$5,63210th
$17,65925th
$44,138Median
$54,15475th
$93,60890th
$39,000This org · 33rd
p10$5,632
p25$17,659
p50$44,138
p75$54,154
p90$93,608
$39,000

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 CA 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
Hausmann Quartet Foundation CA$221,963 President $25,917 $26,603 2024
Taiko Community Alliance CA$224,568 Executive Director $38,967 $39,998 2024
Music Heals International CA$245,634 Founder/exec $44,550 $45,729 2024
International Horn Society CA$199,373 Executive Director $44,000 $45,164 2024
Sacraprofana Inc CA$188,463 Director $2,000 $2,114 2023
Music In Place CA$258,414 Mkting Adm Off. $39,708 $40,759 2024
Music City Artist Development CA$267,297 Executive Director $6,955 $7,139 2024
Envelop CA$267,859 Executive Dir. $106,000 $108,805 2024
Laguna Beach Live CA$174,133 Ceo $42,000 $43,111 2024
Indexical Inc CA$171,200 Executive Di $48,954 $50,249 2024
The Coleman Chamber Music Association CA$171,101 Executive Director $85,273 $87,529 2024
Camfel Productions Inc CA$166,635 President $53,677 $55,097 2024
Sweetwater Music Hall Inc CA$282,170 Executive Dir. $68,454 $72,341 2023
Seasun Theatre Artist Group CA$157,161 Director $6,940 $7,334 2023
C'est Bon Music Inc CA$156,557 Ceo $14,300 $14,678 2024
Los Angeles Youth Symphony Orchestra CA$293,994 President And Program Director $102,000 $107,791 2023
United States Open Music Competition CA$318,411 President $1,000 $1,026 2024
Braver Players Musical Theater Foundation CA$326,173 President $50,000 $51,323 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2025 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 CA 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 default33rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)39th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted33rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted33rd

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 (Jeff Gauthier) 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 18 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A68) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $39,000 is reasonable (approximately the 33rd 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.