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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Portage County Historical Society Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 391266236
WI · NTEE A82Z
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John Harry, Executive Director / CEO ($43,333) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 75 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 52nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

75 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 75 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,318 total compensation of comparable organizations → $135,439 $43,333
$12,80710th
$28,25925th
$42,527Median
$58,75075th
$69,22190th
$43,333This org · 52nd
p10$12,807
p25$28,259
p50$42,527
p75$58,750
p90$69,221
$43,333

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 WI 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
Mower County Historical Society MN$186,707 Executive Director $52,824 $48,544 2024
Historic General Dodge House Inc IA$190,891 Executive Director $46,125 $46,971 2024
Texas Wendish Heritage Society Inc TX$182,746 Executive Director $20,479 $19,615 2023
Madison County Historical Society NY$181,584 Executive Director $27,639 $23,228 2024
Worthington Historical Society Inc OH$180,212 Executive Director $37,377 $35,870 2025
The Scituate Historical Society MA$178,481 Trustee $27,900 $22,717 2025
Western North Carolina Historical Association Inc NC$176,258 Executive Director $73,782 $70,903 2024
Cortland County Historical Society Inc NY$200,438 Director $58,500 $49,165 2024
Historic Huntsville Foundation Inc AL$200,653 Executive Director $61,279 $63,390 2023
Lowell Area Historical Museum MI$201,437 Executive Director $38,103 $36,578 2024
Preserve Clarksville Inc TX$174,600 President $30,000 $28,735 2023
Downtown Asheboro Inc NC$174,078 Executive Director $9,390 $8,792 2025
Ligonier Valley Historical Society PA$174,053 Director $63,110 $60,262 2023
Carpinteria Valley CA$172,123 Exec Dir & C $95,610 $76,784 2024
Shaker Historical Society OH$204,842 Executive Di $62,344 $61,413 2024
Edisto Historical Preservation SC$206,694 Director $63,000 $61,127 2024
Clarke County Historical Society AL$169,305 Museum Director And Coordinator $38,275 $37,467 2025
Vicksburg Foundation For Historic Preservation MS$169,122 Executive Director $65,742 $66,343 2025
Napa County Historical Society CA$209,695 Executive Dir $80,000 $62,592 2025
Wellesley Historical Society Inc MA$209,961 Executive Director $56,154 $48,317 2023
Griffin Spalding Historical Society GA$166,413 Executive Director $20,430 $19,669 2023
James Whites Fort TN$210,761 Trustee $33,715 $32,960 2024
Quincy Historical Society MA$164,769 Executive Di $20,000 $16,715 2024
The Woman's Club Of Dayton Foundation OH$164,202 Exec Director $30,800 $31,236 2023
Gf County Historical Society ND$163,424 Executive Director $36,729 $37,487 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WI 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 WI 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 default52nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)49th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted53rd
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 (John Harry) 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 75 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A82), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $43,333 is reasonable (approximately the 52nd 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.