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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Dennison Railroad Depot Museum Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 341440913
OH · NTEE A500
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Wendy R Zucal, Executive Director / CEO ($58,321) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 83 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 63rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Wendy R Zucal — reported title “Executive Director/Secretary”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

83 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 83 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$624 total compensation of comparable organizations → $139,201 $58,321
$17,28210th
$27,00825th
$46,777Median
$74,63875th
$88,09890th
$58,321This org · 63rd
p10$17,282
p25$27,008
p50$46,777
p75$74,638
p90$88,098
$58,321

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
Ecovivarium CA$294,999 Employee Representative $18,515 $15,095 2024
Red Wing Collectors Society Foundation MN$294,173 Museum Director $39,851 $38,276 2023
Superior Public Museums WI$293,842 Executive Director $26,640 $26,268 2024
Edison Memorial Tower Corporation NJ$293,330 Museum Direc $15,115 $12,742 2024
Arkansas Sports Hall Of Fame Inc AR$292,446 Executive Dir. $88,000 $96,150 2023
Casey Tibbs Foundation SD$292,081 Director Of Center $85,458 $89,047 2024
Georgia Music Foundation Inc GA$291,935 Foundation M $25,000 $24,434 2023
Montana Beyond The Classroom MT$289,365 Executive Director $53,699 $54,652 2024
House Of Miles East St Louis IL$289,128 President & Ceo $7,500 $6,962 2024
Rehoboth Beach Historical Society DE$288,552 Executive Director $62,030 $57,345 2024
Hawaii Science And Technology HI$288,167 Executive Director $23,350 $21,154 2022
Slave Dwelling Project Inc SC$285,486 President $58,051 $57,179 2024
Global Village Museum Of Arts & Cul CO$309,564 Executive Director $22,890 $20,723 2024
Ohio Air & Space Hall Of Fame OH$309,720 Exec Director $36,000 $37,063 2023
Colorado Ski Museum Inc CO$313,822 Executive Dir. $126,460 $117,869 2023
Racing History Preservation Group NH$314,527 Executive Di $90,881 $81,569 2023
Friends Of Sequoyah TN$315,037 Director $80,421 $82,169 2023
Kansas Sports Hall Of Fame KS$317,157 Executive Di $17,500 $17,850 2024
Classic Car Club Of America Museum Inc MI$277,157 Executive Director $57,917 $56,441 2024
Heart & Soul UT$276,697 Executive Di $59,886 $57,869 2024
Channel Islands Maritime Museum Inc CA$318,658 Executive Dir. $45,471 $38,166 2023
Music House Museum MI$319,128 Executive Di $47,430 $46,222 2024
Saint Charles County Veterans Museum MO$274,662 Executive Director $75,000 $75,000 2024
Northern Rockies Heritage Center Inc MT$321,457 Executive Dir. $62,105 $63,207 2024
The Tyler Rose Museum Inc TX$272,110 Executive Dir. $93,890 $88,674 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 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 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 default63rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)60th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted61st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted59th

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 (Wendy R Zucal) 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 83 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $58,321 is reasonable (approximately the 63rd 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.