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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Tennessee History For Kids

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 201878334
TN · NTEE A50
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of William Carey, Executive Director / CEO ($143,973) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 90 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 100th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

90 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 90 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$646 total compensation of comparable organizations → $143,898 $143,973
$13,13010th
$25,39025th
$43,623Median
$63,84575th
$84,96390th
$143,973This org · 100th
p10$13,130
p25$25,390
p50$43,623
p75$63,845
p90$84,963
$143,973

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 TN 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
Three Oaks Spokes Bicycle Club MI$232,222 President & Executive Director $48,000 $48,381 2024
The Newberry Museum SC$234,063 Museum Executive Director $42,708 $44,794 2023
Foundation Advancing Creation Truth MT$235,119 President $48,406 $50,954 2024
Cincinnati Fire Museum OH$235,503 Executive Director $78,000 $83,058 2023
Laurens County Museum Association SC$228,620 Museum Direc $10,000 $10,489 2023
Harriet Tubman Museum Of Cape May NJ$226,855 Executive Di $26,000 $24,295 2022
Wornall-majors House Museums Inc MO$240,200 Acting Executive Director $49,780 $53,007 2023
Museum Of Art And Digital Entertainment CA$240,306 Fmr Ex Dir $42,031 $35,442 2024
Over-the-rhine Museum OH$240,782 Director Of Museum Administration $47,960 $49,604 2024
Rpm Foundation WA$220,604 Exec Director, Rpm $115,940 $101,365 2024
Camden Shipyard Maritime Museum NJ$247,017 Executive Director $32,917 $28,700 2024
Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation WI$248,893 Executive Director $81,350 $82,964 2024
Spencer-penn School Preservation Organization Inc VA$216,337 Executive Director $46,700 $45,332 2023
Lawndale Pop-up Spot IL$216,211 Treasurer $26,000 $24,961 2024
Rolls-royce Foundation PA$249,192 Executive Di $644 $646 2023
Bristol Bay Historical Society Inc AK$251,603 Executive Dir. $66,284 $63,710 2023
Annie E Woodman Institute Inc NH$213,068 Executive Director $55,847 $51,844 2023
Ilwaco Heritage Foundation WA$211,656 Executive Director $43,655 $38,167 2024
Maui Historical Society HI$257,562 Executive Di $35,400 $31,864 2023
Avery Copp Museum CT$260,953 Executive Dir. $67,237 $61,562 2024
Opera Steamboat CO$261,041 Ceo $82,042 $76,822 2024
Texas Agricultural Education & TX$203,776 Director $27,192 $26,561 2024
International Towing & Recovery TN$202,073 Executive Director $13,846 $14,212 2024
Nia Centre MI$264,657 Executive Director $70,733 $73,400 2023
Illinois Rock & Roll Museum On IL$199,486 President $30,200 $29,850 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TN 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 TN 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 default100th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)100th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted99th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted97th

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 (William Carey) 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 90 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $143,973 is reasonable (approximately the 100th 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.