Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Joan Mooney, Executive Director / CEO ($34,024) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 101 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 18th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: Joan Mooney — reported title “Executive Dir.”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.
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 MN cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Jackson Historical Association | TX | $286,570 | Executive Dir. | $55,623 | $54,694 | 2024 |
| Sherborn Community Center Foundation Inc | MA | $286,631 | Function And Operations Manager | $30,000 | $25,817 | 2025 |
| Anoka County Historical Society | MN | $283,591 | Executive Di | $73,458 | $71,351 | 2024 |
| Historic Cherry Hill | NY | $282,305 | Exec Director | $50,602 | $44,948 | 2024 |
| Folsom Historical Society | CA | $288,947 | Exec Director | $105,000 | $91,758 | 2023 |
| Mifflin County Historical Society | PA | $291,294 | Assistant Treasurer | $16,817 | $16,060 | 2025 |
| Preservation Greensboro Inc | NC | $291,437 | Executive Dir. | $43,321 | $44,001 | 2024 |
| Crested Butte Mountain Heritage | CO | $278,634 | Executive Di | $52,845 | $48,527 | 2025 |
| Chenango County Historical Society | NY | $277,540 | Executive Director | $60,152 | $53,430 | 2024 |
| Corning Painted Post Historical Society | NY | $274,718 | Director | $43,810 | $38,915 | 2024 |
| Rock River Heritage Inc | WI | $274,514 | Exc Director | $60,064 | $61,662 | 2024 |
| American Society Of Church History | MN | $274,036 | Executive Se | $25,000 | $25,000 | 2023 |
| Leelanau Historical Society | MI | $270,796 | Executive Dir. | $37,577 | $39,252 | 2023 |
| Highlands Historical Society | PA | $301,090 | Executive Director | $58,333 | $58,871 | 2023 |
| Nittany Antique Machinery Association | PA | $268,569 | Secretary | $2,400 | $2,353 | 2024 |
| Oneida County Historical Society Inc | NY | $302,691 | Executive Director | $66,992 | $59,506 | 2024 |
| Ross County Historical Society Inc | OH | $305,685 | Executive Director | $69,182 | $74,156 | 2023 |
| Umatilla County Historical Society | OR | $263,172 | Executive Direc | $37,867 | $34,568 | 2024 |
| Lambda Archives Of San Diego | CA | $310,154 | Managing Direct | $81,671 | $69,324 | 2024 |
| Carousel Society Of The Niagara | NY | $310,499 | Executive Director | $64,395 | $58,889 | 2023 |
| 120 East State | NJ | $259,821 | Project Leader | $97,240 | $85,343 | 2024 |
| Fort Ross Conservancy | CA | $313,041 | Executive Dir. | $65,000 | $55,173 | 2024 |
| Rocky Mount Historical Association | TN | $256,386 | Executive Director | $69,271 | $73,689 | 2023 |
| Mount Gulian Society | NY | $256,383 | Executive Di | $97,804 | $89,442 | 2023 |
| Furnace Town Foundation Inc | MD | $256,119 | Executive Di | $59,289 | $54,487 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MN cost of living and 2023 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.
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 MN 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.
Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:
| Basis | Subject percentile |
|---|---|
| Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default | 18th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 18th |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 19th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 16th |
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.
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
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.