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

Montgomery County Historical

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 146022991
NY · NTEE A82Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rachel Bliven, Executive Director / CEO ($29,955) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 89 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 19th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

89 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 89 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,568 total compensation of comparable organizations → $174,705 $29,955
$19,52710th
$37,72325th
$55,890Median
$72,73475th
$89,32290th
$29,955This org · 19th
p10$19,527
p25$37,723
p50$55,890
p75$72,734
p90$89,322
$29,955

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 NY 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
Island County Historical Society WA$223,467 Executive Director $36,982 $37,723 2023
Fort Mill Economic Partners SC$221,807 Executive Director $35,005 $41,607 2023
Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center WY$220,679 General Manager $28,488 $33,759 2024
Kankakee County Historical Society IL$227,254 Executive Dir. $50,594 $55,045 2024
Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation Ltd MD$216,963 Executive Director $93,116 $99,184 2023
Berea Historical Society OH$230,863 Key Employee $9,894 $11,597 2024
Washington County Historical MD$231,361 Executive Di $30,601 $31,660 2024
Fort Mifflin On The Delaware PA$216,140 Executive Di $66,200 $75,215 2023
Chippewa County Historical Society MN$215,141 Executive Di $39,640 $43,346 2024
Geneva Historical Society IL$233,566 Executive Dir. $74,888 $81,476 2024
Harrisonburg-rockingham Historical VA$234,085 Executive Director $65,025 $69,481 2024
Milton Historical Society WI$235,066 Executive Director $43,160 $51,356 2023
Historic Preservation Trust Of PA$235,874 Director $1,380 $1,568 2023
Garfield Heritage Society IL$236,787 Executive Director $3,338 $3,632 2024
James Whites Fort TN$210,761 Trustee $33,715 $39,219 2024
Wellesley Historical Society Inc MA$209,961 Executive Director $56,154 $57,492 2023
Napa County Historical Society CA$209,695 Executive Dir $80,000 $74,477 2025
Crawford County Historical Society PA$239,650 Executive Director $35,907 $40,798 2023
Edisto Historical Preservation SC$206,694 Director $63,000 $72,734 2024
Lelooska Foundation WA$241,645 President $12,253 $12,140 2024
Shaker Historical Society OH$204,842 Executive Di $62,344 $73,074 2024
Colonial Pennsylvania Farmstead PA$244,925 Vice President $1,841 $2,091 2023
Schoharie County Historical Society NY$245,308 Curator $64,789 $64,789 2024
Lowell Area Historical Museum MI$201,437 Executive Director $38,103 $43,523 2024
Historic Huntsville Foundation Inc AL$200,653 Executive Director $61,279 $75,426 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default19th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)20th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted18th

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 (Rachel Bliven) 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 89 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A82), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $29,955 is reasonable (approximately the 19th 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.