Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Comedy Gives Back

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 841886550
CA · NTEE A03
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Zoe Friedman, Executive Director / CEO ($50,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Zoe Friedman — reported title “PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,457 total compensation of comparable organizations → $209,228 $50,000
$48,41910th
$82,93325th
$99,551Median
$107,05375th
$144,42590th
$50,000This org · 13th
p10$48,419
p25$82,933
p50$99,551
p75$107,053
p90$144,425
$50,000

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 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
Arizona Solar Energy Industries Assoc AZ$462,545 Executive Director $193,408 $209,228 2024
Faith Co-op Inc TN$491,232 Executive Director & President $86,157 $99,244 2025
Shakespeare Association Of America MS$455,594 Executive Director $35,724 $44,755 2024
Glass Art Society Inc WA$452,347 Executive Director $102,473 $106,247 2023
Music And Culture Coalition Of New Orleans Nonprofit Corporation LA$503,323 Executive Director $80,373 $99,551 2024
California Choral Directors Association CA$445,924 Director $1,500 $1,457 2024
Design Management Institute Inc MA$426,070 President $124,447 $125,793 2024
International Association For Dance CO$554,785 Executive Director $100,000 $107,859 2024
Connecticut High School Coaches CT$555,181 Executive Di $98,333 $101,036 2025
Open Channels New York Inc NY$370,950 Secretary/treas $71,913 $73,096 2024
Association Of Professional Genealogists WA$338,756 Executive Director $52,000 $53,915 2023
New York City Arts-in-education NY$617,658 Executive Di $97,122 $98,720 2024
Quincy Society Of Fine Arts IL$328,373 Executive Director $83,890 $92,770 2024
League Of Historic American MD$680,509 President & Ceo $144,867 $156,846 2023
American Institute Of Dental Public Health IL$702,394 Co-founder/executive Director $94,500 $104,504 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)13th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted13th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Zoe Friedman) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A03), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $50,000 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.