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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sewickley Valley Historical Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 251451010
PA · NTEE A82Z
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Amanda Schaffer, Executive Director / CEO ($41,167) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 20 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 75th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Amanda Schaffer — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

20 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 20 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,506 total compensation of comparable organizations → $58,361 $41,167
$6,67410th
$16,80425th
$24,078Median
$38,39375th
$49,48490th
$41,167This org · 75th
p10$6,674
p25$16,804
p50$24,078
p75$38,393
p90$49,484
$41,167

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
Ohio To Erie Trail Fund OH$83,119 Exec Director-non Voting $36,000 $37,138 2024
Marquette Range Iron Mining MI$80,308 Director/man $14,263 $14,763 2023
Haddam Historical Society Inc CT$79,914 Exec Directo $44,837 $42,156 2023
National Society Of The Sons Of The American Revolution PA$78,057 President & Registrar $3,504 $3,403 2024
Tioga County Historical Society PA$86,949 Managing Director $28,891 $28,891 2023
Preservation Of Historic Winchester Inc VA$76,418 Executive Director $24,314 $22,866 2024
Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association CA$88,893 Executive Director $33,500 $28,175 2024
Colonial Theater Inc ME$90,527 Executive Director $30,000 $30,124 2023
Historic Windsor Inc VT$69,919 Exec.director $50,262 $49,275 2024
The Society Of Mayflower Descendants ME$66,399 Governor $1,500 $1,506 2023
Ss Columbia Project NY$65,891 Chairwoman $20,000 $18,123 2023
Mchenry Museum & Historical Society CA$64,708 Officer $71,227 $58,361 2025
Westminster Preservation Trust Inc MD$63,453 President $13,000 $11,838 2024
Centre Park Historic District Inc PA$61,927 Executive Direc $18,000 $17,484 2024
Lewis & Clark National Park Association OR$101,962 Executive Director $56,787 $51,365 2024
Montgomery Co Historical Society IN$103,557 Exec Directo $24,621 $25,290 2024
Swiss Heritage Society Inc IN$105,467 President $18,692 $19,200 2024
Burnett County Historical Society Inc WI$116,296 Executive Director $6,719 $7,037 2023
Historic Lexington Foundation VA$119,424 Executive Director $22,238 $20,914 2024
Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion Inc PA$121,034 Exec Dir -1/1/23 To 9/12/23 $45,311 $45,311 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PA cost of living and 2023 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 default75th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)75th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted75th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted70th

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 (Amanda Schaffer) 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 20 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A82), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $41,167 is reasonable (approximately the 75th 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.