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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Coutts Memorial Museum Of Art Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237160423
KS · NTEE A80
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Thea Howard, Executive Director / CEO ($66,250) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 122 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 77th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

122 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 122 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,481 total compensation of comparable organizations → $133,846 $66,250
$11,47310th
$28,34125th
$48,770Median
$63,77575th
$77,61290th
$66,250This org · 77th
p10$11,473
p25$28,341
p50$48,770
p75$63,775
p90$77,612
$66,250

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 KS 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
Wayne County Historical Museum Inc IN$263,992 Interim Executive Director $49,994 $48,801 2024
Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area VA$264,630 Executive Di $81,780 $75,250 2023
Trail Of Tears Association Inc OK$266,003 Executive Director $75,921 $77,383 2024
Discovery Expedition Of St Charles Mo Inc MO$266,577 Executive Director $56,692 $57,223 2023
Central Virginia Battlefields Trust VA$261,071 Executive Di $68,727 $63,239 2023
Alliance For Historic Hillsborough NC$260,988 Exec Director $45,454 $43,474 2024
Historic Railroad Square Association CA$259,718 Executive Dir. $34,130 $27,280 2024
Middle Passage Ceremonies & Port FL$269,967 Executive Director $47,796 $41,562 2024
Adena Mansion And Gardens Society OH$256,847 Executive Director $56,686 $55,575 2024
Fptower Inc NC$256,355 Executive Director $36,000 $34,431 2024
Louisiana Children's LA$272,001 Operations M $30,000 $30,578 2024
Berwick Historical Society PA$273,374 Executive Director $54,530 $50,335 2024
The Freedom Archives CA$254,114 Director $50,000 $39,964 2024
Standing Bear Native American Foundation Inc OK$253,128 Executive Director $7,200 $7,339 2024
Main Street Portsmouth OH$275,016 Executive Di $27,605 $27,863 2023
Destination Downtown Lancaster Inc OH$252,889 Executive Di $69,150 $69,797 2023
Musical Arts Society Of New Orleans LA$275,504 Executive Dir. $40,000 $41,974 2023
High Plains Heritage Society Inc SD$275,804 Executive Director $68,805 $70,289 2024
William H Gray Iii Memorial Foundation DC$251,862 Executive Director $84,000 $70,246 2023
The Whitesbog Preservation Trust Inc NJ$276,286 Executive Dir. $58,000 $47,934 2024
Friends Of Harriet Beecher Stowe House OH$251,465 Executive Director $52,169 $51,146 2024
Charleston County Parks Foundation SC$276,622 Executive Di $61,534 $59,421 2024
T L C Carnival Club Inc LA$250,592 President $7,425 $7,568 2024
The Casino Star Theater Foundation UT$245,564 Executive Director $6,000 $5,852 2023
Friends Of Florida History Inc FL$285,007 Division Dir $21,686 $19,415 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to KS 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 KS 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 default77th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted80th
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 (Thea Howard) 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 122 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $66,250 is reasonable (approximately the 77th 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.