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

Quincy Historical Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 046053558
MA · NTEE A82Z
FY ending 2024-04-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Edward Fitzgerald, Executive Director / CEO ($20,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 62 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 11th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Edward Fitzgerald — reported title “EXECUTIVE DI”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

62 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 62 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,577 total compensation of comparable organizations → $162,055 $20,000
$13,33410th
$33,02325th
$45,234Median
$64,59875th
$75,82690th
$20,000This org · 11th
p10$13,334
p25$33,023
p50$45,234
p75$64,598
p90$75,826
$20,000

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 MA 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
The Woman's Club Of Dayton Foundation OH$164,202 Exec Director $30,800 $37,375 2023
Gf County Historical Society ND$163,424 Executive Director $36,729 $44,854 2024
Griffin Spalding Historical Society GA$166,413 Executive Director $20,430 $23,534 2023
Stevens County Historical Society MN$162,560 Executive Dir. $34,226 $38,746 2023
The Clifton Forge Company VA$161,429 Executive Director $26,570 $29,392 2023
Vicksburg Foundation For Historic Preservation MS$169,122 Executive Director $65,742 $79,380 2025
Clarke County Historical Society AL$169,305 Museum Director And Coordinator $38,275 $44,828 2025
Delaware County Historical Society PA$159,182 Acting Executive Director $56,000 $62,146 2024
Kenilworth Historical Society IL$157,577 Director $53,998 $60,821 2023
Carpinteria Valley CA$172,123 Exec Dir & C $95,610 $91,874 2024
Warren County Historical Society PA$155,664 Executive Director $39,287 $44,886 2023
Ligonier Valley Historical Society PA$174,053 Director $63,110 $72,104 2023
Downtown Asheboro Inc NC$174,078 Executive Director $9,390 $10,519 2025
Preserve Clarksville Inc TX$174,600 President $30,000 $34,381 2023
Western North Carolina Historical Association Inc NC$176,258 Executive Director $73,782 $84,838 2024
Westport Historical Society Inc CT$153,112 Executive Di $155,315 $162,055 2024
The Scituate Historical Society MA$178,481 Trustee $27,900 $27,181 2025
Hunterdon County Historical Society NJ$150,272 Executive Adminstrator $60,000 $59,614 2024
Worthington Historical Society Inc OH$180,212 Executive Director $37,377 $42,919 2025
Madison County Historical Society NY$181,584 Executive Director $27,639 $27,793 2024
Texas Wendish Heritage Society Inc TX$182,746 Executive Director $20,479 $23,470 2023
Brown County Historical Society WI$143,537 Executive Director $61,500 $71,475 2024
Mower County Historical Society MN$186,707 Executive Director $52,824 $58,085 2024
Portage County Historical Society Inc WI$188,224 Executive Director $43,333 $51,849 2023
Historic General Dodge House Inc IA$190,891 Executive Director $46,125 $56,202 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA 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 MA 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 default11th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted13th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted10th

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 (Edward Fitzgerald) 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 62 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A82), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $20,000 is reasonable (approximately the 11th 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.