Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Nathan Cottam, Executive Director / CEO ($40,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 43 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 37th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range
Benchmarked executive: Nathan Cottam — reported title “CEO Artistic/Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Inc | CA | $235,050 | Executive Director | $82,796 | $85,242 | 2023 |
| Art & Soul Oakland | CA | $235,700 | President, Ceo | $26,000 | $26,768 | 2023 |
| Allied Ceramics Art Institute | CA | $233,412 | Member At Large | $8,279 | $8,524 | 2023 |
| Community Arts & Empowerment | CA | $236,571 | Ceo | $48,400 | $48,400 | 2024 |
| Coronado Junior Arts League | CA | $224,657 | Chair | $40,000 | $40,000 | 2024 |
| The Peoples Conservatory | CA | $224,549 | Executive Director | $43,732 | $50,623 | 2021 |
| Angelica Center For Arts And Music | CA | $220,167 | Program Directo | $27,187 | $27,187 | 2024 |
| Lyrical Opposition | CA | $219,086 | Board Member | $22,500 | $23,165 | 2023 |
| Instituto Mazatlan Bellas Artes | CA | $251,111 | Secretary | $35,664 | $36,717 | 2023 |
| Genryu Arts | CA | $217,841 | President | $54,000 | $55,595 | 2023 |
| Urasenke Foundation Of California | CA | $216,878 | Ceo / Dir | $69,840 | $69,840 | 2024 |
| Brasarte The Damasceno Brazilian Cultural Exchange | CA | $253,770 | Executive Director | $11,500 | $11,204 | 2025 |
| Ecoarts Of Lake County | CA | $254,901 | Executive Di | $43,775 | $45,068 | 2023 |
| Contemporary Art Group | CA | $255,236 | Executive Director | $62,500 | $64,346 | 2023 |
| Northern California Music & Art Culture Center | CA | $256,509 | Executive Director | $48,000 | $48,000 | 2024 |
| Canyon Cinema Foundation | CA | $261,223 | Executive Director | $58,708 | $60,442 | 2023 |
| Pasacat Inc | CA | $264,275 | Executive Director Administra | $5,700 | $5,868 | 2023 |
| Immersive Arts Alliance | CA | $264,651 | Exec Directo | $24,500 | $25,224 | 2023 |
| San Francisco International Arts Festival Inc | CA | $265,801 | President, Executive Director | $70,000 | $70,000 | 2024 |
| Dulce Upfront Labs | CA | $265,904 | Co-director | $44,316 | $44,316 | 2024 |
| Siskiyou County Arts Council | CA | $203,220 | Executive Dir. | $48,146 | $48,146 | 2024 |
| The Wow Flower Project | CA | $202,883 | Board Of Trustee | $14,000 | $14,414 | 2023 |
| The Roustabouts | CA | $202,254 | Ceo | $5,720 | $5,889 | 2023 |
| Museum Of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara | CA | $267,953 | Executive Director | $48,038 | $48,038 | 2024 |
| Bird & Beckett | CA | $188,725 | Treasurer | $27,759 | $28,579 | 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 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 37th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 37th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 40th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 37th |
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.
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
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.