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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Chinese Seattle News

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841642351
WA · NTEE A33
FY ending 2025-02-28
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Shiaoshia Chu, Executive Director / CEO ($18,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 23 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 17th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Shiaoshia Chu — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

23 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 23 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,780 total compensation of comparable organizations → $133,816 $18,000
$15,30110th
$20,95225th
$36,260Median
$60,21575th
$89,75490th
$18,000This org · 17th
p10$15,301
p25$20,952
p50$36,260
p75$60,215
p90$89,754
$18,000

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 WA 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
Owen News Project Inc IN$126,693 President $16,500 $19,950 2024
The Institute For Jewish Research MA$129,559 President $59,500 $61,300 2024
Medical Physics Publishing Corporation WI$138,456 General Manager $57,105 $68,375 2024
Escape Artists Foundation Inc GA$113,870 Editor/board Member $1,500 $1,780 2023
Torah Lishmah Institute Inc NY$109,422 President $100,000 $103,600 2024
Latinx Kidlit Book Festival Inc NY$146,948 Treasurer $5,000 $5,180 2024
School Science And Mathematics Association OK$148,325 Executive Director $12,000 $15,150 2024
Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation NC$148,687 Accountant $18,000 $21,953 2023
The Dial Magazine Inc NY$102,115 Secretary $35,000 $36,260 2024
Bsd Publishers Society Inc NY$98,276 Director, Ceo $18,000 $19,199 2023
Baptist History & Heritage Society GA$93,677 Executive Di $18,500 $21,956 2023
Student Media Corporation KS$163,991 General Manager $46,370 $59,130 2023
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center Inc CA$88,488 Editor, Ushkana Press $57,722 $58,832 2023
Morning Star News International Inc CA$87,895 President & Ceo $46,000 $46,885 2023
Accuracy In Academia Inc DC$85,232 Chairman $23,500 $24,341 2023
Border Belt Reporting Inc NC$172,493 President $25,000 $29,615 2024
Dialogue Foundation UT$176,457 Trustee $27,500 $32,269 2024
Catamaran Literary Reader CA$178,599 Executive Director $91,952 $91,032 2024
The Codex Foundation CA$180,771 Executive Di $85,500 $84,644 2024
Lantern Publishing & Media NY$181,699 President $50,000 $51,800 2024
India Childrens Press CA$183,719 Ceo $55,000 $56,058 2023
Media Ecosystems Analysis MA$184,241 President & $126,160 $133,816 2023
Western States Communication Association MT$187,356 Executive Director $12,500 $15,905 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default17th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)22nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted17th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted17th

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 (Shiaoshia Chu) 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 23 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A33), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $18,000 is reasonable (approximately the 17th 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.