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

Us-china Language & Culturefoundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 205117628
CA · NTEE A23
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Zhaolin Zhang, Executive Director / CEO ($580) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 50 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 4th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

50 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 50 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$216 total compensation of comparable organizations → $376,288 $580
$2,00810th
$5,87825th
$16,556Median
$51,58875th
$90,80490th
$580This org · 4th
p10$2,008
p25$5,878
p50$16,556
p75$51,588
p90$90,804
$580

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
The City Of Socorro Community Initiative TX$23,642 Executive Director $69,894 $83,359 2023
Whitney Plantation Museum LA$23,809 Executive Director $12,252 $16,085 2023
Claude Heater Foundation CA$23,205 Ceodirector $70,000 $72,068 2023
Sfte Inc NM$22,897 Presidentdirector $13,670 $17,027 2024
Maryland Cultural And Conference Center MD$24,406 Executive Director, Board $6,920 $7,713 2023
The Time In Childrens Arts Initiative Inc NY$24,497 Secretaryexec Director $33,575 $35,135 2024
Wayne County Historical Society IL$22,599 Director / Curator $4,830 $5,499 2024
The Buddhayana Foundation Inc MA$22,435 Treasurer $24,000 $24,976 2024
Foundation For The Long Beach Symphony CA$24,839 Vice President Of Finance $11,531 $11,872 2023
Duquesne Club Charitable Foundation PA$24,842 Secretary $5,585 $6,284 2025
The Confectionery Foundation DC$24,900 Nca Staff $31,807 $32,324 2024
Twoculturesunited Inc CA$25,000 President $3,650 $3,758 2023
Strategic Air & Space Museum Foundation NE$22,156 President/ceo $13,500 $17,312 2023
Carmel Mission Foundation Inc CA$22,133 Executive Dir. $56,623 $58,295 2023
Contact Collaborations Inc VT$22,079 President $12,250 $14,701 2023
The Mcghee Foundation VA$25,512 Secytreas $81,000 $90,572 2024
The New York City Police Museum NY$21,135 Executive D $21,540 $22,541 2024
Automata Arts CA$26,116 Vice-presiden $3,272 $3,188 2025
Stephen J Ponzillo Jr Memorial Library MD$20,728 Grand Secretary $9,099 $10,143 2023
Janusz Korczak Polish Language RI$26,608 President $1,880 $2,088 2024
Enrichment Through The Arts Inc NY$26,646 Executive Director $5,000 $5,387 2023
Network Of Ensemble Theaters Inc OR$20,205 Executive Dir. $83,898 $92,893 2023
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum Inc NY$27,011 Trustee $1,000 $1,046 2024
Theatre Bam IL$27,385 President $10,477 $12,280 2023
Transcultural Exchange MA$27,464 Executive Director And President $33,000 $34,342 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 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 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 default4th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted4th

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 (Zhaolin Zhang) 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 50 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $580 is reasonable (approximately the 4th 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.