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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Center For Railroad Photography

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 391917972
WI · NTEE A50
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Scott Lothes, Executive Director / CEO ($88,002) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 114 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 65th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Scott Lothes — reported title “EXEC. DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

114 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 114 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,539 total compensation of comparable organizations → $285,325 $88,002
$26,88610th
$60,37025th
$79,494Median
$98,21675th
$131,10490th
$88,002This org · 65th
p10$26,886
p25$60,370
p50$79,494
p75$98,216
p90$131,104
$88,002

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
Don Garlits Museum Of Drag Racing FL$888,127 Chairman/ceo $8,629 $7,539 2024
Mclean County Historical Society IL$907,733 Executive Di $98,901 $90,430 2024
Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive IA$910,340 Executive Director $81,720 $83,219 2024
Museum Of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts NY$911,142 Executive Director $45,000 $37,819 2024
South Dakota Hall Of Fame SD$877,411 Chief Exec. $140,896 $144,621 2024
🔒 109 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

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 default65th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)49th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted72nd
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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 114-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 10, 2026.