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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Line 4 Line

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 814426216
LA · NTEE A99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lucy Perera-adams, Executive Director / CEO ($60,063) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 98 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 56th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Lucy Perera-adams — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

98 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 98 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,714 total compensation of comparable organizations → $256,061 $60,063
$11,86210th
$34,32525th
$55,413Median
$72,41675th
$100,49890th
$60,063This org · 56th
p10$11,862
p25$34,325
p50$55,413
p75$72,416
p90$100,498
$60,063

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 LA 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
O Positive Festival Inc NY$483,742 Director Of Operations $73,496 $60,313 2024
Arizona Band & Orchestra Directors Association AZ$483,424 Executive Director $66,867 $56,895 2025
Chicago City Theatre Company IL$483,107 Managing Director $60,150 $53,703 2024
Art Jewelry Forum VA$490,096 Executive Director $45,497 $39,895 2024
San Francisco Classical Voice CA$494,641 Exec Director $121,000 $94,887 2024
Youth Outreach And Learning Institute CA$497,001 Castro $35,160 $27,572 2024
Drumming For Your Life Institute CA$473,746 President $51,200 $41,336 2023
Leadership Charlotte NC$472,128 Executive Director $111,405 $101,843 2025
The Word A Storytelling Sanctuary Inc CO$470,305 Exec Dir $85,000 $72,111 2025
Better Business Bureau Serving The CA$501,477 Secretary/coo $48,259 $37,844 2024
Minnesota Fringe Festival MN$502,542 Executive Director $72,461 $65,023 2024
Mosaic Multicultural Foundation WA$467,330 Vice President $119,319 $97,015 2024
Ramsey County Library Friends MN$504,753 Ex Dir - Jul $30,729 $27,575 2024
American Women Artists TN$464,067 Executive Director Until 11/08/2024 $34,975 $32,526 2025
Side Street Projects CA$463,757 Executive Director $76,076 $59,658 2024
Open Space For Arts & Community WA$509,476 Executive Director $81,053 $65,902 2024
The Story Collider Inc NY$461,809 Executive Dir. $97,565 $80,065 2024
Winston-salem Mixxer Inc NC$510,106 Executive Director $41,998 $39,409 2024
Arts For Life NC$510,660 Executive Director $61,441 $57,654 2024
Women Wonder Writers CA$460,237 Lead Instructor $42,317 $34,165 2023
Ohio Educational Support Group OH$512,361 Trustee $44,716 $43,011 2024
Cosmos Gakuin Japanese School CA$513,791 Director And President $48,000 $36,671 2025
San Angelo Broadway Academy Youth TX$450,310 President $53,235 $48,361 2024
Dayton Public Access Television Inc OH$523,391 Executive Director $70,000 $67,331 2024
A-wol Dance Collective OR$524,269 Board Treasurer & Exec Director $22,239 $18,756 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to LA 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 LA 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 default56th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)47th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted51st

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 (Lucy Perera-adams) 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 98 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $60,063 is reasonable (approximately the 56th 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.