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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Preservation Pennsylvania

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 232219097
PA · NTEE A800
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Melinda Crawford, Executive Director / CEO ($84,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 80th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$27,415 total compensation of comparable organizations → $177,954 $84,000
$37,88010th
$42,50125th
$61,277Median
$74,96875th
$94,56290th
$84,000This org · 80th
p10$37,880
p25$42,501
p50$61,277
p75$74,968
p90$94,562
$84,000

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 PA 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
Veterans Breakfast Club PA$329,512 Executive Di $98,385 $101,291 2023
Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation PA$331,028 Executive Di $27,415 $27,415 2024
Doylestown Historical Society Np PA$307,622 Executive Director $36,410 $37,485 2023
Downtown Carlisle Association PA$304,562 Main Street Manager $74,762 $74,762 2024
Centre County Historical Society PA$342,593 Executive Director $39,833 $39,833 2024
Oxford Mainstreet Inc PA$347,801 Interim Ed $38,473 $38,473 2024
Lumber Heritage Region Of Pa Inc PA$354,189 Executive Director $61,277 $61,277 2024
Historical Society Of Montgomery County PA$287,660 Executive Director $73,017 $75,174 2023
Berwick Historical Society PA$273,374 Executive Director $54,530 $54,530 2024
Presque Isle Light Station PA$379,832 Executive Director $62,500 $64,346 2023
Historic Rittenhousetown Inc PA$231,918 Executive Director $64,773 $64,773 2024
Young Preservationists Association Of Pittsburgh PA$228,825 Executive Director $82,046 $84,469 2023
Washington County Historical PA$426,056 Executive Di $45,169 $45,169 2024
Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance PA$456,529 Executive Director $172,849 $177,954 2023
Artist-blacksmiths Association Of North America Inc PA$469,380 Executive Dir. $50,000 $50,000 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA 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 PA 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 default80th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)87th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted80th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted80th

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 (Melinda Crawford) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80) + PA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $84,000 is reasonable (approximately the 80th 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.