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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Acton Chinese Language School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 562303016
MA · NTEE A70
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ally Lee, Executive Director / CEO ($5,434) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 36 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 11th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Ally Lee — reported title “Principle”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

36 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 36 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$305 total compensation of comparable organizations → $128,363 $5,434
$6,38710th
$25,08125th
$48,734Median
$67,14575th
$87,63690th
$5,434This org · 11th
p10$6,387
p25$25,081
p50$48,734
p75$67,145
p90$87,636
$5,434

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 MA 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 Common Acre WA$232,865 Executive Dir. $66,500 $70,017 2023
Family Cornerstones Inc TN$237,771 Exec. Director $51,300 $61,594 2024
Northmont Fellowship Association PA$238,368 President $13,000 $14,808 2024
Small Press Traffic Literary Arts Center CA$240,398 Executive Dir. $78,000 $74,952 2025
Ether Sea Projects Inc Dba Litmus Press NY$243,647 Executive Dir. $22,000 $22,708 2024
Zbigniew Herbert Polish Supplementary School Of Li Inc NY$244,930 Principal/ceo $17,460 $17,557 2025
Roaring Fork Center For Community CO$249,768 Executive Director $52,772 $57,801 2024
African Immigrant Family Services Inc NE$204,188 Executive Director $30,600 $37,595 2024
The Association For The Study Of NY$203,179 Executive Dir. $19,500 $19,609 2025
Boulder School For German Language And Culture CO$198,752 President $27,093 $30,551 2023
Split This Rock Inc DC$267,649 Director $64,281 $66,337 2023
Spokane Language House WA$185,944 Board Pres/e $3,250 $3,324 2024
Lex America Inc MA$182,807 Executive Director $91,339 $93,756 2024
Marine Mills Folk School MN$272,489 Pt Exec Dire $23,336 $27,117 2023
Project Sycamore A Nfp Corporation TX$273,382 Executive Director $84,000 $98,815 2023
Christian Home Educators Assn Of Calif CA$278,232 Treasurer $300 $305 2023
Morris Chinese Academy NJ$176,651 Principal $5,245 $5,349 2024
Huayuan Chinese Academy Inc MD$175,535 President Board Director $37,459 $40,003 2024
Lama Foundation NM$280,456 Director $1,008 $1,275 2023
American Comparative Literature IL$285,428 Chief Admin Off $85,586 $98,950 2023
Spitfire Club VA$167,073 Executive Director (Ex Officio) $23,458 $25,872 2024
Faulkner Morgan Archive KY$288,069 President & Executive Director $52,771 $66,674 2023
Western Political Science Association OR$288,787 Executive Dir. $7,000 $7,425 2024
Atlanta Writers Club GA$289,485 Executive Director $31,500 $37,247 2023
Helping Link WA$302,762 Executive Director $125,517 $128,363 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default11th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted11th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted11th

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 (Ally Lee) 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 36 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $5,434 is reasonable (approximately the 11th 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.