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

Natl Washington-rochambeau Rev Rt A

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 331106734
MD · NTEE A80
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ellen Von Karajan, Executive Director / CEO ($32,800) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 41st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,952 total compensation of comparable organizations → $270,382 $32,800
$13,61110th
$22,40025th
$40,595Median
$66,31675th
$87,28290th
$32,800This org · 41st
p10$13,611
p25$22,400
p50$40,595
p75$66,316
p90$87,282
$32,800

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 MD 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
The Chicago Club Preservation Foundation IL$141,514 Management Representative $29,859 $31,399 2024
The Ballard House Project Inc AL$142,515 Executive Director $18,000 $21,415 2023
California History Center Foundation CA$135,627 Program Director (Fhda Instructor) $292,740 $270,382 2024
Craik-patton Inc WV$134,149 Executive Director $40,000 $46,325 2024
T Thomas Fortune Foundation NJ$132,664 Executive Di $34,588 $33,032 2024
National Society Of The Daughters Of The OK$147,152 President $7,500 $9,095 2023
Capitol Historic Trust Inc DC$131,573 President $25,000 $24,158 2023
Columbia County Historical & Genealogical Society PA$130,316 Executive Director $5,000 $5,333 2024
Stockyards Plaza Inc SD$149,752 Executive Director $76,301 $90,072 2024
Lovell Historical Society ME$151,332 President $19,815 $21,850 2023
San Antonio Conservation Society TX$127,075 Executive Director $13,380 $14,739 2023
The Grand Foundation Inc NE$152,532 Vice President $13,000 $14,956 2024
Ponca City Mainstreet Inc OK$152,974 Executive Di $54,014 $63,618 2024
Listening Point Foundation MN$126,150 Executive Director $24,960 $27,159 2023
Westerly Armory Restoration Inc RI$155,312 Treasurer $26,250 $26,923 2024
Heritage Alliance Of Ne Tn & Sw Va TN$155,315 Director $45,478 $52,642 2023
Quakertown Alive PA$155,888 Executive Director $67,022 $71,490 2024
Norwalk Historical Society Inc CT$156,068 Executive Dir. $48,000 $48,139 2024
Hidalgo Foundation TX$157,430 Pres./exec. Dir $44,083 $47,167 2024
East Tennessee Historical Society Foundation TN$157,780 President/ceo $13,361 $15,022 2024
Saint Petersburg Preservation Inc FL$159,952 Executive Director $84,621 $85,030 2024
The George Joseph And Susie Ezzell Atta Memorial Library Inc AL$118,265 Director, President $2,555 $2,952 2024
The Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust Inc IN$161,074 Executive Director $90,789 $102,408 2024
Wilsons Creek National Battlefield Foundation MO$162,963 Executive Director $46,230 $52,374 2024
Straus Historical Society NY$115,721 Executive Director $42,000 $40,595 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MD 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 MD 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 default41st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)46th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted36th

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 (Ellen Von Karajan) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $32,800 is reasonable (approximately the 41st 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.