Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Centre County Historical Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 251323768
PA · NTEE A800
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Mary Sorensen, Executive Director / CEO ($39,833) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 126 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 31st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

126 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 126 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,605 total compensation of comparable organizations → $177,954 $39,833
$11,50810th
$32,47425th
$56,896Median
$75,22475th
$91,39890th
$39,833This org · 31st
p10$11,508
p25$32,474
p50$56,896
p75$75,224
p90$91,398
$39,833

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
Women's Club Foundation Inc MD$341,970 Executive Director $18,105 $16,973 2024
Bandera Natural History And Art Museum TX$341,572 Director Of Operations $16,600 $17,143 2023
Main Street Charles City IA$344,035 Executive Di $24,577 $26,289 2025
100th Bomb Group Foundation Inc MI$337,821 Executive Vp, Director $5,000 $5,328 2023
Oxford Mainstreet Inc PA$347,801 Interim Ed $38,473 $38,473 2024
Srs Heritage Foundation Inc SC$337,123 Comptroller $4,302 $4,500 2024
Maine Natural History Observatory ME$348,525 Treasurer/ex $38,396 $37,560 2025
The Society Of Colonial Wars NY$348,873 Executive Director $106,023 $96,071 2024
Revolutionary Education Inc TX$349,265 President $12,000 $12,392 2023
Delaware Military Heritage And Education Foundation Inc DE$349,391 Executive Director $17,500 $17,690 2023
David Labkovski Project CA$333,503 Executive Director $117,075 $101,375 2024
Eldridge Park Carousel Preservation NY$332,587 General Manager/director $43,952 $39,826 2024
Bessemer Historical Society Inc CO$332,515 Executive Director $86,409 $83,086 2024
Colorado Music Hall Of Fame CO$331,686 Executive Di $150,800 $145,000 2024
Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation PA$331,028 Executive Di $27,415 $27,415 2024
Lumber Heritage Region Of Pa Inc PA$354,189 Executive Director $61,277 $61,277 2024
Veterans Breakfast Club PA$329,512 Executive Di $98,385 $101,291 2023
Friends Of Linden Hill Inc MN$327,202 Executive Director $71,521 $70,867 2024
Cyprus American Archaeological Research VA$325,875 Executive Director $66,417 $66,206 2023
Hulls Angels Inc VA$359,458 Executive Director $29,743 $28,798 2024
Schmahl Science Workshops Inc CA$325,715 Executive Director $18,201 $15,760 2024
Minnesota Masonic Historic Buildings MN$360,487 Ceo - Charities $32,555 $32,257 2024
John Hope Franklin Center For OK$323,443 Executive Director $21,374 $24,298 2023
Clackamas Heritage Partners OR$323,041 Executive Director $41,667 $39,948 2023
Preservation Pennsylvania PA$321,267 Executive Di $84,000 $84,000 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 default31st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)30th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted29th

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 (Mary Sorensen) 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 126 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $39,833 is reasonable (approximately the 31st 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.