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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Automata Arts

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 300259101
CA · NTEE A65
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jaine Geiser, Executive Director / CEO ($3,272) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 15th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$221 total compensation of comparable organizations → $386,244 $3,272
$2,11510th
$5,53025th
$15,090Median
$47,27975th
$86,38290th
$3,272This org · 15th
p10$2,115
p25$5,530
p50$15,090
p75$47,279
p90$86,382
$3,272

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
Janusz Korczak Polish Language RI$26,608 President $1,880 $2,143 2024
Enrichment Through The Arts Inc NY$26,646 Executive Director $5,000 $5,530 2023
The Mcghee Foundation VA$25,512 Secytreas $81,000 $92,968 2024
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum Inc NY$27,011 Trustee $1,000 $1,074 2024
Twoculturesunited Inc CA$25,000 President $3,650 $3,857 2023
The Confectionery Foundation DC$24,900 Nca Staff $31,807 $33,179 2024
Theatre Bam IL$27,385 President $10,477 $12,606 2023
Duquesne Club Charitable Foundation PA$24,842 Secretary $5,585 $6,450 2025
Foundation For The Long Beach Symphony CA$24,839 Vice President Of Finance $11,531 $12,186 2023
Transcultural Exchange MA$27,464 Executive Director And President $33,000 $35,250 2024
The Time In Childrens Arts Initiative Inc NY$24,497 Secretaryexec Director $33,575 $36,064 2024
Maryland Cultural And Conference Center MD$24,406 Executive Director, Board $6,920 $7,918 2023
Nebrada Foundation Inc FL$28,341 President $36,697 $40,980 2024
Whitney Plantation Museum LA$23,809 Executive Director $12,252 $16,511 2023
Greenpoint Monitor Museum NY$28,535 President $200 $221 2023
The City Of Socorro Community Initiative TX$23,642 Executive Director $69,894 $85,564 2023
Us-china Language & Culturefoundation CA$23,580 President $580 $595 2024
Claude Heater Foundation CA$23,205 Ceodirector $70,000 $73,974 2023
San Francisco Chanticleer Endowment CA$29,137 Dir Ops/touring $9,770 $10,325 2023
Sfte Inc NM$22,897 Presidentdirector $13,670 $17,478 2024
Wayne County Historical Society IL$22,599 Director / Curator $4,830 $5,645 2024
The Buddhayana Foundation Inc MA$22,435 Treasurer $24,000 $25,637 2024
Philadelphia Assembly Inc PA$30,008 Executive Director $105,600 $128,879 2023
Strategic Air & Space Museum Foundation NE$22,156 President/ceo $13,500 $17,769 2023
Carmel Mission Foundation Inc CA$22,133 Executive Dir. $56,623 $59,838 2023

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 default15th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)15th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted36th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted15th

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 (Jaine Geiser) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $3,272 is reasonable (approximately the 15th 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.