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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Hawaii Childrens Theatre

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 990330749
HI · NTEE A65
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dolly Kanekuni, Executive Director / CEO ($4,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 305 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 5th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

305 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 305 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$774 total compensation of comparable organizations → $147,625 $4,000
$7,36110th
$21,19525th
$41,302Median
$60,05275th
$73,58890th
$4,000This org · 5th
p10$7,361
p25$21,195
p50$41,302
p75$60,052
p90$73,588
$4,000

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 HI 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
Mtvarts Inc OH$284,064 Artistic Dir $7,200 $8,518 2024
The Harbor Stage Company Inc MA$281,765 President $11,508 $11,551 2024
Cactus Pear Music Festival TX$284,917 Executive Dir. $69,333 $77,465 2024
Rising Star Theatre Company IA$281,633 Director/artistic And Education Director $39,000 $49,105 2023
Live Oak Theatre Company Inc FL$281,507 President $7,376 $7,968 2023
Flashback Theater Co KY$285,896 Producing Ar $30,000 $35,072 2025
Murphys Creek Theater Conservatory CA$286,025 Vice President $65,000 $64,543 2023
The Gift Theatre Company IL$280,448 Managing Director $41,346 $45,401 2024
Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater MA$286,234 Director/curator $30,000 $30,111 2024
Water People Theater Group Nfp IL$279,163 Exec Artistic Director $61,200 $67,202 2024
Inside Out Theatre Company Inc FL$287,632 Executive Director $65,004 $68,207 2024
Flying V Ltd MD$287,745 Executive Director $37,000 $39,778 2023
Invictus Theatre IL$278,797 President And Artistic Director $22,028 $24,188 2024
Pulse Ensemble Theatre Inc NY$278,685 President $6,600 $6,858 2023
Marblehead Little Theatre Inc MA$288,684 Secretary $3,800 $3,716 2025
Improv Utopia CA$289,594 Presidentceo $50,417 $48,626 2024
Soul Rep Theatre Company TX$289,722 Producton $26,854 $29,230 2025
Revival Theatre Company IA$276,486 Co-founder $6,000 $7,554 2023
Wichita Falls Backdoor Players Inc TX$290,648 Executive Director $45,510 $52,349 2023
Children's Educational Theatre Inc OR$291,263 Executive Director $23,089 $23,949 2024
Chicago Dramatists IL$291,266 Artistic Direc. $33,065 $37,381 2023
The Whitney Players Inc CT$275,173 Vice-president $16,200 $16,528 2025
The Movement Theatre Company Inc NY$274,101 President $67,980 $68,612 2024
Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble NJ$274,068 President $50,700 $49,257 2025
Lower Bottom Playaz Inc CA$273,901 Executive Director $111,275 $110,492 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI 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 HI 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 default5th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)5th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted6th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted5th

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 (Dolly Kanekuni) 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 305 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A65), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $4,000 is reasonable (approximately the 5th 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.