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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sanford-springvale Historical Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 203171828
ME · NTEE A54
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Patricia Violetter-adams, Executive Director / CEO ($29,175) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 36th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Patricia Violetter-adams — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,605 total compensation of comparable organizations → $121,330 $29,175
$10,30710th
$22,36525th
$37,095Median
$54,14975th
$66,50690th
$29,175This org · 36th
p10$10,307
p25$22,365
p50$37,095
p75$54,149
p90$66,506
$29,175

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 ME 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
Heritage Museum Of Montgomery County TX$142,402 Executive Director $20,946 $21,478 2024
Scottsboro-jackson Heritage Center AL$141,493 Director $20,196 $22,365 2024
The William E Swigart Jr Automobile Museum PA$140,026 Treasurer $9,855 $10,074 2024
The Museum Of North Texas History TX$148,127 Executive Director $27,692 $28,396 2024
The Glenn L Martin MD$136,329 Executive Dir. $69,396 $66,506 2024
The Charnley-persky House Museum IL$149,312 Executive Director - Term $6,193 $6,426 2023
Historic Palmyra Inc NY$135,713 Executive Director $37,035 $34,305 2024
Center For Documentary Expression UT$151,368 Executive Di $54,000 $58,327 2023
Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum Inc MS$151,523 Sec Treas And Executive Director $57,200 $67,234 2023
Haverhill Historical Society MA$152,088 Director And Curator $34,356 $30,831 2025
River Valley Pioneer Museum TX$131,346 Executive Dir. $37,000 $37,940 2024
North Texas Society Of History & Culture TX$131,331 Executive Director $15,500 $15,894 2024
Warbirds Of Glory Museum MI$154,634 President $50,058 $54,529 2023
South Carolina Cotton Museum Inc SC$155,011 Executive Di $33,692 $37,095 2023
Museum Of The West Texas Frontier TX$128,710 Director $10,615 $10,885 2024
General John A Logan Museum IL$128,680 Executive Di $27,300 $28,325 2023
Cimarron Heritage Center OK$128,001 Director $30,000 $32,990 2025
Milan Historical Museum Inc OH$158,097 Executive Drector $71,428 $77,551 2024
Destin Fishing Museum Foundati FL$126,655 Executive Dir $45,444 $43,762 2024
Amesbury Carriage Museum Inc MA$126,485 Executive Director $37,800 $34,820 2024
The Star Spangled Banner MD$126,011 Executive Director $56,923 $54,552 2024
Museum Of Ceramics Foundation OH$159,251 Key Employee $21,325 $23,153 2024
East End African American Museum NY$124,562 Executive Di $20,000 $19,073 2023
Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical NY$164,616 Board Member $4,000 $3,705 2024
Greene County Historical Society PA$119,793 Executive Director $40,508 $42,632 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to ME 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 ME 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 default36th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)34th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted38th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted34th

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 Violetter-adams) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A54), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $29,175 is reasonable (approximately the 36th 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.