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

Cincinnati Fire Museum

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 310932419
OH · NTEE A500
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sarah Strickland, Executive Director / CEO ($78,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 91 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 87th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

91 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 91 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$606 total compensation of comparable organizations → $135,207 $78,000
$12,37610th
$24,28725th
$42,573Median
$61,68975th
$79,81290th
$78,000This org · 87th
p10$12,376
p25$24,287
p50$42,573
p75$61,689
p90$79,812
$78,000

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 OH 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
Foundation Advancing Creation Truth MT$235,119 President $48,406 $47,851 2024
The Newberry Museum SC$234,063 Museum Executive Director $42,708 $42,066 2023
Tennessee History For Kids TN$232,658 Executive Director $143,973 $135,207 2025
Three Oaks Spokes Bicycle Club MI$232,222 President & Executive Director $48,000 $45,435 2024
Wornall-majors House Museums Inc MO$240,200 Acting Executive Director $49,780 $49,780 2023
Museum Of Art And Digital Entertainment CA$240,306 Fmr Ex Dir $42,031 $33,284 2024
Over-the-rhine Museum OH$240,782 Director Of Museum Administration $47,960 $46,584 2024
Laurens County Museum Association SC$228,620 Museum Direc $10,000 $9,850 2023
Harriet Tubman Museum Of Cape May NJ$226,855 Executive Di $26,000 $22,816 2022
Camden Shipyard Maritime Museum NJ$247,017 Executive Director $32,917 $26,952 2024
Wisconsin Veterans Museum Foundation WI$248,893 Executive Director $81,350 $77,913 2024
Rolls-royce Foundation PA$249,192 Executive Di $644 $606 2023
Rpm Foundation WA$220,604 Exec Director, Rpm $115,940 $95,193 2024
Bristol Bay Historical Society Inc AK$251,603 Executive Dir. $66,284 $59,832 2023
Spencer-penn School Preservation Organization Inc VA$216,337 Executive Director $46,700 $42,573 2023
Lawndale Pop-up Spot IL$216,211 Treasurer $26,000 $23,441 2024
Maui Historical Society HI$257,562 Executive Di $35,400 $29,924 2023
Annie E Woodman Institute Inc NH$213,068 Executive Director $55,847 $48,687 2023
Ilwaco Heritage Foundation WA$211,656 Executive Director $43,655 $35,843 2024
Avery Copp Museum CT$260,953 Executive Dir. $67,237 $57,814 2024
Opera Steamboat CO$261,041 Ceo $82,042 $72,144 2024
Nia Centre MI$264,657 Executive Director $70,733 $68,931 2023
Astrodome Conservancy TX$266,400 Executive Director $100,323 $94,750 2023
Texas Agricultural Education & TX$203,776 Director $27,192 $24,945 2024
Coliseum Museum Of Art Antiques And IL$268,238 Executive Di $50,000 $45,079 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OH 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 OH 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 default87th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)80th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted88th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted82nd

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 (Sarah Strickland) 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 91 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $78,000 is reasonable (approximately the 87th 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.