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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Grand Foundation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 943327852
CA · NTEE A65
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lindsay Ciastko, Executive Director / CEO ($19,822) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 198 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 51st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

198 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 198 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1 total compensation of comparable organizations → $118,789 $19,822
$3,51210th
$8,15225th
$19,295Median
$35,78575th
$60,81090th
$19,822This org · 51st
p10$3,512
p25$8,152
p50$19,295
p75$35,785
p90$60,810
$19,822

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
Arts With Others CA$51,507 President $30,000 $31,703 2023
Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage WV$51,476 Coordinator $15,050 $19,370 2024
Northview Education Foundation MI$51,425 Executive Director $19,200 $23,558 2024
Li Huasheng Art Foundation WA$51,846 Director $37,500 $39,910 2024
Evansville Civic Theatre Inc IN$52,360 Managing Artist Director $14,216 $17,361 2025
Shands Auxiliary Inc FL$52,360 Chairman/president/ceo Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics (Thru July 2022) $38,142 $43,852 2023
Rackliffe House Trust Inc MD$50,644 Executive Di $20,508 $22,204 2025
Pearl's Serenity House PA$52,498 President $45,100 $55,042 2023
Saecula Choir Foundation Inc CT$52,519 President $16,000 $17,832 2024
Educational Center For The Blind And The Handicapped Of Puerto Rico PR$52,731 Director $3,551 $3,753 2023
Ingersoll Gender Center WA$52,906 Executive Director $108,414 $118,789 2023
Beethoven Festival Orchestra Inc NY$52,957 President $2,000 $2,148 2024
Starfish Accelerator Foundation NY$50,000 Director $25,000 $27,647 2023
Peninsula Youth Orchestra WA$49,997 Executive Director $10,000 $11,406 2022
Thomas Paine Society Of Pasadena CA$49,977 Director $44,400 $45,575 2024
Frank Brown International FL$49,629 Executive Di $30,000 $33,501 2024
Sandhills Family Heritage Association NC$53,524 Executive Director $17,854 $21,929 2024
Hill-stead Museum Board Of Governors Inc CT$49,137 Executive Director & Trustee $13,993 $15,596 2024
Juneteenth Festival Inc NY$54,055 Office Clerk $12,352 $13,268 2024
Grinnell School Of Music Inc IA$49,025 Executive Di $3,000 $4,020 2023
Olathe Youth Symphony Association KS$54,116 Music Director $6,500 $8,132 2025
Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum & Hall Of Fame CO$48,949 President $16,500 $18,808 2024
Zumix Firehouse Inc MA$54,182 Clerk $8,417 $8,991 2024
Treasure Caretaker Training CO$48,712 Executive Director $24,000 $27,356 2024
The Society For The Restoration Of The Gary Bathing Beach Aquatorium IN$54,419 Manager $12,962 $16,729 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 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 default51st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)55th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted57th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted46th

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 (Lindsay Ciastko) 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 198 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $19,822 is reasonable (approximately the 51st 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.