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

Lutz Children's Museum Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 060740514
CT · NTEE A520
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Patricia Buxton Edd, Executive Director / CEO ($77,808) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 40 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Patricia Buxton Edd — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

40 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 40 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,779 total compensation of comparable organizations → $107,254 $77,808
$34,68210th
$52,21725th
$63,219Median
$75,99275th
$87,92090th
$77,808This org · 75th
p10$34,682
p25$52,217
p50$63,219
p75$75,992
p90$87,920
$77,808

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 CT 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
Adventure Childrens Museum OR$470,174 Executive Dir. $36,978 $35,574 2024
Explore Children's Museum Of Sun WI$472,035 Executive Director $56,923 $63,404 2023
Kearney Area Children's Museum NE$473,812 Executive Di $50,302 $57,703 2023
Upper Peninsula Children's Museum MI$452,246 Executive Di $70,000 $74,849 2024
Children's Discovery Museum Of Cape Cod Inc MA$447,408 Exec Director $87,032 $81,019 2024
Children's Discovery Museum ME$480,697 Executive Director $45,415 $48,502 2023
Children's Museum Of Jacksonville NC$444,436 Executive Director $65,539 $70,153 2024
Wonderfeet Kids Museum Inc VT$441,108 Executive Di $47,500 $50,991 2023
The Virgin Island Childrens Museum VI$490,033 Executive Dir. $36,000 $36,000 2023
San Luis Obispo Children's Museum CA$432,411 Executive Dir. $111,814 $102,976 2023
Hawaii Keiki Museum HI$511,353 Museum Director / Ceo $5,153 $4,779 2024
Kids Discovery Museum WA$518,759 Executive Director $44,307 $41,094 2024
Flip Museum Inc OR$405,336 Executive Director $66,667 $62,482 2025
The Great Lakes Childrens Museum MI$523,555 Executive Director $65,320 $68,045 2025
Amelia Park Children's Museum Inc MA$402,328 Executive Director $14,306 $13,711 2023
Galesburg Museums Inc IL$530,678 Executive Dir. $79,769 $81,240 2024
Children's Museum Of Findlay OH$394,125 Executive Di $54,300 $59,579 2024
Children's Museum Of Montana MT$393,318 Executive Director $54,827 $63,033 2023
Kidscommons IN$534,642 Executive Director $81,744 $89,302 2024
Playzeum Yuba-sutter CA$377,489 Executive Dir. $99,959 $87,113 2025
Mid-michigan Children's Museum MI$553,236 Executive Di $66,969 $71,608 2024
Raven Hill Discovery Center MI$360,028 Executive Dir. $24,923 $26,649 2024
The Childrens Museum Of Siouxland Inc IA$581,757 Executive Director $61,200 $69,418 2024
Hands On Childrens Museum Inc FL$345,304 Director $11,000 $11,021 2023
Aha A Hands On Adventure OH$344,152 Executive Di $55,000 $60,347 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CT cost of living and 2023 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 CT 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted78th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Patricia Buxton Edd) 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 40 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A52), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $77,808 is reasonable (approximately the 75th 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.