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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Lawson Boating Heritage Center On Chautauqua Lake

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 273571294
NY · NTEE A54
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Rae Lynn Deangelo, Executive Director / CEO ($4,150) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 103 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 4th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Rae Lynn Deangelo — reported title “TRUSTEE”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

103 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 103 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$109 total compensation of comparable organizations → $197,676 $4,150
$24,45010th
$45,44425th
$57,336Median
$77,08775th
$87,76490th
$4,150This org · 4th
p10$24,450
p25$45,444
p50$57,336
p75$77,087
p90$87,764
$4,150

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 NY 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
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum MI$314,482 Executive Director $75,772 $86,551 2024
California Heritage Museum CA$314,102 Executive Director $42,959 $42,264 2023
The Gunflint Trail Historical MN$315,116 Executive Di $30,616 $33,478 2024
Ninepipes Museum Of Early Montana MT$311,614 Exective Director $29,974 $36,812 2023
Fairfield County Heritage OH$311,054 Executive Di $54,990 $64,455 2024
The Rice Museum SC$310,577 Executive Director $17,248 $19,399 2025
Heritage Museum Foundation At Grissom Air Reserve Base IN$318,389 Executive Director $68,500 $79,941 2024
Roebling Main Gate Museum NJ$306,378 Executive Director $75,855 $77,164 2023
Diplomacy Center Foundation DC$323,376 President $157,500 $152,951 2024
Delmarva Discovery Center & Museum Inc MD$323,477 Coo $55,000 $56,904 2024
Houston Aeronautical Heritage TX$324,772 Director $18,438 $20,411 2024
Matheson History Museum FL$325,091 Executive Director $46,872 $48,729 2024
New Castle Senior Center Inc DE$325,580 Executive Director $90,716 $95,765 2025
Smithfield Preston Foundation VA$302,252 Executive Dir. $81,912 $87,525 2024
Franklin Opera House Inc NH$301,823 Executive Director $29,120 $28,989 2025
Old Mill Foundation CA$301,525 Executive Dir. $60,000 $57,336 2024
Museum Village Of Old Smith's Clove Inc NY$327,502 Executive Director $28,434 $29,274 2023
The Waterfront Museum NY$300,796 President $89,524 $89,524 2024
Christiansburg Institute Inc VA$328,051 Executive Director $75,151 $80,300 2024
Conrad Mansion Directors Inc MT$328,213 Museum Director $51,900 $63,740 2023
Bisbee Council On The Arts And Humanities AZ$299,682 Museum Director $70,167 $76,885 2023
Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum VA$329,260 Executive Di $53,049 $56,684 2024
The Phelps Mansion Museum NY$298,199 Executive Director $53,480 $52,101 2025
Nassau County Firefighters Museum And NY$297,237 Executive Director $80,000 $80,000 2024
The American Bookbinders Museum CA$297,007 Executive Di $116,906 $115,014 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default4th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted5th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted3rd

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 (Rae Lynn Deangelo) 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 103 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A54), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $4,150 is reasonable (approximately the 4th 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.