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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Hawaiian Railway Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237211582
HI · NTEE A500
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Benjamin Delacruz, Executive Director / CEO ($51,600) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 98 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 26th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Benjamin Delacruz — reported title “Key Employee”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

98 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 98 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$9,061 total compensation of comparable organizations → $182,980 $51,600
$29,23410th
$51,42325th
$75,236Median
$100,82675th
$128,69990th
$51,600This org · 26th
p10$29,234
p25$51,423
p50$75,236
p75$100,826
p90$128,699
$51,600

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 HI 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
American Saddle Horse KY$465,305 Executive Director $102,750 $123,300 2024
New England Carousel Museum Inc CT$462,629 Executive Dir. $60,192 $63,036 2024
Lowell's Maritime Foundation Inc MA$460,259 Executive Director $75,602 $75,881 2024
Galveston Children's Museum TX$459,157 Executive Director $60,659 $69,776 2023
Capri Community Film Society Inc AL$483,006 Director $77,678 $96,500 2023
The Edge Motor Museum Inc TN$454,726 Executive Director $85,000 $99,795 2024
River Road African American Museum And Gallery LA$454,431 Executive Director $32,542 $40,023 2024
Afro-american Historical Association Of Fauquier County VA$487,717 Pres, Exec Dir $36,664 $39,540 2024
Hawaii Mobile Museum Of Tolerance HI$489,330 Executive Director $130,000 $130,000 2024
Finger Lakes Boating Musuem Inc NY$492,302 Executive Director $75,000 $75,697 2024
National Soaring Museum NY$493,119 Director $73,298 $73,979 2024
Swift Museum Foundation Inc TN$495,234 Exec Director $33,600 $39,448 2024
New England Ski Museum Inc NH$497,445 Executive Director (Former) $70,000 $72,194 2024
La Casa Del Libro Inc PR$497,619 Executive Director $9,061 $9,061 2024
Fullerton Museum Center Association CA$440,563 Executive Director $120,300 $119,453 2023
German American Heritage Center IA$437,510 Executive Di $67,083 $82,041 2024
Long Island Maritime Museum NY$429,337 Executive Director $75,094 $78,031 2023
The Muzeo Foundation CA$516,592 Executive Dir. $113,033 $106,207 2025
Jacksonville Area Center For Independent IL$519,920 Executive Dir. $50,000 $54,904 2024
Japanese American Museum Of Oregon OR$520,012 Executive Director $110,000 $114,097 2024
Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall Of SD$522,600 Executive Di $87,353 $107,679 2024
Rancho Obi-wan Inc CA$419,326 President/ce $29,795 $28,737 2024
Tree Of Life Foundation ME$525,958 Executive Director $83,578 $93,477 2024
Hydroplane And Raceboat Museum WA$526,712 Executive Director $66,000 $66,000 2024
Branford Electric Railway Assoc Inc CT$528,110 Executive Dir. $88,067 $92,228 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI 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 HI 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 default26th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)32nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted23rd

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 (Benjamin Delacruz) 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 98 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $51,600 is reasonable (approximately the 26th 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.