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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Thomas Paine Society Of Pasadena

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 954358102
CA · NTEE A99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Alaine Lowell, Executive Director / CEO ($44,400) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 190 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 79th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Alaine Lowell — 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

190 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 190 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$582 total compensation of comparable organizations → $115,727 $44,400
$2,92310th
$7,94225th
$18,797Median
$34,78975th
$58,90490th
$44,400This org · 79th
p10$2,923
p25$7,942
p50$18,797
p75$34,789
p90$58,904
$44,400

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
Peninsula Youth Orchestra WA$49,997 Executive Director $10,000 $11,112 2022
Starfish Accelerator Foundation NY$50,000 Director $25,000 $26,934 2023
Frank Brown International FL$49,629 Executive Di $30,000 $32,638 2024
Rackliffe House Trust Inc MD$50,644 Executive Di $20,508 $21,631 2025
Hill-stead Museum Board Of Governors Inc CT$49,137 Executive Director & Trustee $13,993 $15,194 2024
Grinnell School Of Music Inc IA$49,025 Executive Di $3,000 $3,917 2023
Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum & Hall Of Fame CO$48,949 President $16,500 $18,322 2024
Treasure Caretaker Training CO$48,712 Executive Director $24,000 $26,651 2024
Northview Education Foundation MI$51,425 Executive Director $19,200 $22,950 2024
Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage WV$51,476 Coordinator $15,050 $18,871 2024
Arts With Others CA$51,507 President $30,000 $30,886 2023
Friends Of Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park TX$48,419 Executive Director $22,851 $26,471 2024
Grand Foundation CA$51,548 Administrative Assistant $19,822 $19,311 2025
Encore Slso Inc MO$48,216 President $67,269 $82,511 2024
Kritya Foundation Inc NY$48,114 President $4,590 $4,803 2024
Li Huasheng Art Foundation WA$51,846 Director $37,500 $38,881 2024
Broadway Sacramento Foundation CA$48,005 Director $31,823 $31,823 2024
The H B Playwrights Foundation Inc NY$47,703 Executive/ Artistic Director $6,245 $6,535 2024
Evansville Civic Theatre Inc IN$52,360 Managing Artist Director $14,216 $16,914 2025
Shands Auxiliary Inc FL$52,360 Chairman/president/ceo Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics (Thru July 2022) $38,142 $42,722 2023
Pearl's Serenity House PA$52,498 President $45,100 $53,623 2023
Saecula Choir Foundation Inc CT$52,519 President $16,000 $17,373 2024
Chinkapin Craftstead Inc TN$47,401 Director Of Programming $12,000 $15,038 2023
Educational Center For The Blind And The Handicapped Of Puerto Rico PR$52,731 Director $3,551 $3,656 2023
Alliance Arts Council NE$47,151 Exec Director $7,800 $9,465 2025

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 default79th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)85th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted82nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted71st

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 (Alaine Lowell) 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 190 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (A), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $44,400 is reasonable (approximately the 79th 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.