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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Shelby County Historical Society

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 356042230
IN · NTEE A800
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Sarah Richardt, Executive Director / CEO ($43,269) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 80 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 55th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

80 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 80 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,617 total compensation of comparable organizations → $239,704 $43,269
$9,00110th
$21,97125th
$40,929Median
$61,30275th
$77,62690th
$43,269This org · 55th
p10$9,001
p25$21,971
p50$40,929
p75$61,302
p90$77,626
$43,269

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 IN 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
Great Bridge Battlefield VA$169,994 Executive Director $63,907 $60,241 2023
Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association Inc AR$172,408 President $23,000 $24,516 2024
Colorado Freedom Memorial Fndtn CO$167,576 President $45,000 $40,917 2024
Historical Society Of Southern CA$167,089 Executive Director $23,400 $19,161 2024
Elizabethtown Preservation Associat PA$175,372 Director $30,800 $29,126 2024
Montana Cowboy Hall Of Fame And Western MT$176,282 Executive Director $30,000 $31,571 2023
Sunrise Historic And Prehistoric WY$165,662 Principal In $6,000 $6,093 2024
North London Mill Preservation Inc CO$176,818 Executive Director $17,493 $15,906 2024
Spring Grove Area Historical PA$165,010 Executive Di $57,335 $54,218 2024
City Tavern Preservation Foundation DC$178,682 Executive Director $23,333 $19,989 2023
Wilsons Creek National Battlefield Foundation MO$162,963 Executive Director $46,230 $46,431 2024
The Locals Inc MN$179,163 President $5,000 $4,824 2023
Gretna Historical Society LA$179,802 Caretaker Assistant $8,470 $9,105 2023
The Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust Inc IN$161,074 Executive Director $90,789 $90,789 2024
Saint Petersburg Preservation Inc FL$159,952 Executive Director $84,621 $75,382 2024
Santa Monica Conservancy CA$183,514 Executive Director $94,500 $77,379 2024
East Tennessee Historical Society Foundation TN$157,780 President/ceo $13,361 $13,318 2024
Museum Of Ashe County History Inc NC$184,476 Administrator $36,541 $35,803 2024
Hidalgo Foundation TX$157,430 Pres./exec. Dir $44,083 $41,815 2024
Historic Linwood Foundation Inc GA$185,072 Exec Director $37,500 $36,811 2023
Norwalk Historical Society Inc CT$156,068 Executive Dir. $48,000 $42,677 2024
Quakertown Alive PA$155,888 Executive Director $67,022 $63,379 2024
Heritage Alliance Of Ne Tn & Sw Va TN$155,315 Director $45,478 $46,669 2023
Westerly Armory Restoration Inc RI$155,312 Treasurer $26,250 $23,868 2024
Preserve Chattanooga Inc TN$186,750 Executive Director $95,727 $95,417 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to IN 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 IN 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 default55th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)49th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted56th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted51st

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 Richardt) 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 80 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A80), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $43,269 is reasonable (approximately the 55th 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.