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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Lyrical Opposition

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 474435583
CA · NTEE A20
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christian Bustos, Executive Director / CEO ($22,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 35 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 23rd percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

35 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 35 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$5,700 total compensation of comparable organizations → $100,248 $22,500
$11,32910th
$25,25025th
$39,745Median
$49,58575th
$67,93090th
$22,500This org · 23rd
p10$11,329
p25$25,250
p50$39,745
p75$49,585
p90$67,930
$22,500

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
Angelica Center For Arts And Music CA$220,167 Program Directo $27,187 $26,407 2024
Genryu Arts CA$217,841 President $54,000 $54,000 2023
Urasenke Foundation Of California CA$216,878 Ceo / Dir $69,840 $67,836 2024
The Peoples Conservatory CA$224,549 Executive Director $43,732 $49,170 2021
Coronado Junior Arts League CA$224,657 Chair $40,000 $38,852 2024
Allied Ceramics Art Institute CA$233,412 Member At Large $8,279 $8,279 2023
Mannakin Theater And Dance CA$234,670 Ceo Artistic/executive Director $40,000 $38,852 2024
Siskiyou County Arts Council CA$203,220 Executive Dir. $48,146 $46,765 2024
Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Inc CA$235,050 Executive Director $82,796 $82,796 2023
The Wow Flower Project CA$202,883 Board Of Trustee $14,000 $14,000 2023
Art & Soul Oakland CA$235,700 President, Ceo $26,000 $26,000 2023
The Roustabouts CA$202,254 Ceo $5,720 $5,720 2023
Community Arts & Empowerment CA$236,571 Ceo $48,400 $47,011 2024
Bird & Beckett CA$188,725 Treasurer $27,759 $27,759 2023
Instituto Mazatlan Bellas Artes CA$251,111 Secretary $35,664 $35,664 2023
Brasarte The Damasceno Brazilian Cultural Exchange CA$253,770 Executive Director $11,500 $10,882 2025
Ecoarts Of Lake County CA$254,901 Executive Di $43,775 $43,775 2023
Contemporary Art Group CA$255,236 Executive Director $62,500 $62,500 2023
Northern California Music & Art Culture Center CA$256,509 Executive Director $48,000 $46,623 2024
Carl Cherry Foundation CA$180,011 Executive Director $46,501 $45,167 2024
Canyon Cinema Foundation CA$261,223 Executive Director $58,708 $58,708 2023
Pasacat Inc CA$264,275 Executive Director Administra $5,700 $5,700 2023
Immersive Arts Alliance CA$264,651 Exec Directo $24,500 $24,500 2023
San Francisco International Arts Festival Inc CA$265,801 President, Executive Director $70,000 $67,992 2024
Dulce Upfront Labs CA$265,904 Co-director $44,316 $43,045 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 2023 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 default23rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)23rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted23rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted23rd

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 (Christian Bustos) 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 35 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A20) + CA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $22,500 is reasonable (approximately the 23rd 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.