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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The American Bookbinders Museum

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 263235193
CA · NTEE A54
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Anita Engles, Executive Director / CEO ($116,906) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 110 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 95th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

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

How comparable organizations were selected

110 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 110 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$110 total compensation of comparable organizations → $200,927 $116,906
$20,64310th
$44,81425th
$57,728Median
$77,10975th
$88,99490th
$116,906This org · 95th
p10$20,643
p25$44,814
p50$57,728
p75$77,109
p90$88,994
$116,906

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 CA 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
Nassau County Firefighters Museum And NY$297,237 Executive Director $80,000 $81,316 2024
The Phelps Mansion Museum NY$298,199 Executive Director $53,480 $52,959 2025
Bisbee Council On The Arts And Humanities AZ$299,682 Museum Director $70,167 $78,148 2023
The Waterfront Museum NY$300,796 President $89,524 $90,997 2024
The Citizen Soldiers Education VA$293,178 Executive Director $36,000 $40,254 2023
The Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education RI$292,809 Executive Director $76,524 $84,976 2023
Old Mill Foundation CA$301,525 Executive Dir. $60,000 $58,279 2024
Franklin Opera House Inc NH$301,823 Executive Director $29,120 $29,465 2025
Smithfield Preston Foundation VA$302,252 Executive Dir. $81,912 $88,964 2024
Heritage Square Foundation AZ$290,839 Executive Director $65,730 $73,207 2023
Cloud County Historical Society KS$290,510 Curator $24,480 $30,627 2023
Governor Frank G Clement Railroad TN$289,001 Executive Di $48,808 $59,414 2023
Roebling Main Gate Museum NJ$306,378 Executive Director $75,855 $78,432 2023
Jewish War Veterans Of The Usa National DC$286,022 National Executive Director $3,021 $3,070 2023
The Rice Museum SC$310,577 Executive Director $17,248 $19,718 2025
Old Red Courthouse Inc TX$283,360 Executive Dir. $75,000 $84,390 2024
Fairfield County Heritage OH$311,054 Executive Di $54,990 $65,514 2024
Ninepipes Museum Of Early Montana MT$311,614 Exective Director $29,974 $37,418 2023
California Heritage Museum CA$314,102 Executive Director $42,959 $42,959 2023
The Lawson Boating Heritage Center On Chautauqua Lake NY$314,302 Trustee $4,150 $4,218 2024
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum MI$314,482 Executive Director $75,772 $87,974 2024
The Gunflint Trail Historical MN$315,116 Executive Di $30,616 $34,029 2024
The Wyck Association PA$278,294 Executive Dir. $77,297 $89,268 2023
Heritage Museum Foundation At Grissom Air Reserve Base IN$318,389 Executive Director $68,500 $81,256 2024
Mitchell County Historical Society Inc KS$275,305 Curator $38,734 $47,071 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default95th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)95th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted96th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

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 (Anita Engles) 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 110 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A54), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $116,906 is reasonable (approximately the 95th 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.