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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

California History Center Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 880108599
CA · NTEE A80Z
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lori Clinchard, Executive Director / CEO ($292,740) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 59 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Lori Clinchard — reported title “Program Director (FHDA INSTRUCTOR)”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

59 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 59 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,074 total compensation of comparable organizations → $123,106 $292,740
$10,86510th
$23,52825th
$35,763Median
$63,82775th
$87,94890th
$292,740This org · 100th
p10$10,865
p25$23,528
p50$35,763
p75$63,827
p90$87,948
$292,740

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
Craik-patton Inc WV$134,149 Executive Director $40,000 $50,156 2024
T Thomas Fortune Foundation NJ$132,664 Executive Di $34,588 $35,763 2024
Natl Washington-rochambeau Rev Rt A MD$139,631 Executive Di $32,800 $35,512 2024
Capitol Historic Trust Inc DC$131,573 President $25,000 $26,156 2023
Columbia County Historical & Genealogical Society PA$130,316 Executive Director $5,000 $5,774 2024
The Chicago Club Preservation Foundation IL$141,514 Management Representative $29,859 $33,995 2024
The Ballard House Project Inc AL$142,515 Executive Director $18,000 $23,186 2023
San Antonio Conservation Society TX$127,075 Executive Director $13,380 $15,957 2023
Listening Point Foundation MN$126,150 Executive Director $24,960 $29,405 2023
National Society Of The Daughters Of The OK$147,152 President $7,500 $9,847 2023
Stockyards Plaza Inc SD$149,752 Executive Director $76,301 $97,520 2024
Lovell Historical Society ME$151,332 President $19,815 $23,656 2023
The Grand Foundation Inc NE$152,532 Vice President $13,000 $16,192 2024
Ponca City Mainstreet Inc OK$152,974 Executive Di $54,014 $68,879 2024
The George Joseph And Susie Ezzell Atta Memorial Library Inc AL$118,265 Director, President $2,555 $3,197 2024
Westerly Armory Restoration Inc RI$155,312 Treasurer $26,250 $29,149 2024
Heritage Alliance Of Ne Tn & Sw Va TN$155,315 Director $45,478 $56,995 2023
Straus Historical Society NY$115,721 Executive Director $42,000 $43,952 2024
Quakertown Alive PA$155,888 Executive Director $67,022 $77,402 2024
Norwalk Historical Society Inc CT$156,068 Executive Dir. $48,000 $52,120 2024
Hidalgo Foundation TX$157,430 Pres./exec. Dir $44,083 $51,067 2024
East Tennessee Historical Society Foundation TN$157,780 President/ceo $13,361 $16,264 2024
The Lafayette Trail Inc PA$112,945 President $70,000 $83,229 2023
Johnson House Historic Site PA$112,477 Executive Director $21,000 $24,252 2024
Highland Historical Society VA$111,650 Executive Di $19,240 $21,514 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 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 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 default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted100th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted98th

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 (Lori Clinchard) 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 59 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $292,740 is reasonable (approximately the 100th 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.