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

Island Choral Experience

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 911078597
WA · NTEE A6B0
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ashley Sun, Executive Director / CEO ($90,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 58 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 86th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Ashley Sun — reported title “DIRECTOR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

58 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 58 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,723 total compensation of comparable organizations → $120,000 $90,000
$17,32410th
$30,00125th
$49,890Median
$70,01875th
$93,77090th
$90,000This org · 86th
p10$17,324
p25$30,001
p50$49,890
p75$70,018
p90$93,770
$90,000

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
National Choral Council Inc NY$306,582 Exec Director $74,000 $74,688 2024
The Girl Choir Of South Florida Inc FL$309,837 Exeuctive Artistic Director $48,667 $49,749 2025
Larimer Choral Society CO$299,706 Executive Di $28,750 $29,998 2025
San Luis Obispo Master Chorale CA$299,577 Executive Director (Non-voting) $18,146 $17,050 2025
The Talent Machine Company Inc MD$313,727 President $1,650 $1,723 2024
Charlotte Master Chorale NC$299,056 Ex-officio $52,958 $61,118 2024
Central Dakota Children's Choir ND$298,536 Executive Di $35,525 $42,421 2025
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir Inc MA$314,922 Executive Di $49,847 $50,031 2024
The Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus IL$295,492 Executive Director $23,155 $25,426 2024
Children's Chorus Of Maryland Inc MD$319,203 Excutive Director $85,261 $89,032 2024
William Baker Choral Foundation Inc KS$291,526 Development Director $37,500 $45,250 2024
Choral Chameleon NY$291,315 Artistic Director $18,000 $18,704 2023
Atlanta Master Chorale GA$325,611 Executive Director $61,000 $68,507 2024
The Choralis Foundation VA$287,316 Artistic Dir $55,000 $61,067 2023
Refugee Choir Project WA$327,706 Executive Director $94,274 $94,274 2024
Singers Minnesota Choral Artists MN$282,513 Exec And Artistic Director $71,902 $77,310 2025
The Piatigorsky Foundation NY$331,767 Aristic Director/president $5,000 $5,196 2023
Chandler Childrens Choir Inc AZ$281,311 Executive/artistic Director $30,417 $32,673 2024
Lake Superior Youth Chorus Inc MN$278,979 Choir Coordinator $19,231 $20,677 2025
Pittsburgh Youth Chorus PA$275,725 Executive Dir. $65,958 $73,467 2024
Jack Music Inc NY$338,095 Director $46,667 $47,101 2024
Salt Lake Choral Artists UT$341,175 Managing Direct $50,000 $57,158 2024
Wilmington Children's Chorus DE$344,704 Executive Director $60,043 $67,607 2023
Saginaw Choral Society Inc MI$266,006 Executive Di $50,000 $57,643 2024
Golden Gate Boys Choir CA$264,289 Artistic Director $26,000 $25,817 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 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 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 default86th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)90th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted88th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted86th

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 (Ashley Sun) 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 58 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A6B), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $90,000 is reasonable (approximately the 86th 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.