Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Zelda Hartje, Executive Director / CEO ($11,036) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 37 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 19th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: Zelda Hartje — reported title “MUSEUM CURATOR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable 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 ND 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Albans Historical Society Inc | VT | $97,194 | Executive Director | $34,154 | $30,518 | 2025 |
| Person County Museum Of History Inc | NC | $98,322 | Executive Director | $39,000 | $36,721 | 2024 |
| Mid America Transportation And | IA | $96,077 | Employee | $24,000 | $23,946 | 2024 |
| Signal And Cyber Museum Society | GA | $99,556 | Executive Director | $10,000 | $9,162 | 2024 |
| Mechanicsburg Museum Association | PA | $99,879 | Treasurer | $5,200 | $4,725 | 2024 |
| American Society Of Military History Inc | CA | $94,326 | Director | $40,000 | $32,404 | 2023 |
| Bayfield Heritage Association Inc | WI | $102,049 | Exec Directo | $6,067 | $5,944 | 2023 |
| Alex Haley Museum Association | TN | $90,663 | Site Manager | $22,000 | $21,072 | 2024 |
| Jack Oconnor Hunting Heritage & | ID | $90,074 | Secretary | $1,583 | $1,535 | 2024 |
| The American Classic Arcade Museum | NH | $105,991 | Director | $18,200 | $15,766 | 2023 |
| Huntington African American Museum Inc | NY | $107,966 | Executive Director | $26,522 | $21,839 | 2024 |
| Vasa Order Of America National | IL | $86,295 | Archivist | $50,404 | $45,155 | 2024 |
| Overfield Tavern Museum | OH | $85,394 | Director | $44,082 | $42,545 | 2024 |
| Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive | WA | $81,621 | Director | $3,349 | $2,813 | 2023 |
| Veterans Memorial Museum | CA | $113,890 | Ceo/director | $30,000 | $24,303 | 2023 |
| Friends Of Chevra T'helim | VA | $79,530 | Executive Di | $13,020 | $11,456 | 2024 |
| Dakota Sunset Museum | SD | $78,504 | Curator, Treasurer & Director | $10,871 | $11,256 | 2023 |
| Mendota Museum & Historical Society | IL | $116,319 | Director | $19,500 | $17,469 | 2024 |
| Pittsburg-camp County Museum Assoc Inc | TX | $77,645 | Museum Admin. | $16,410 | $15,400 | 2023 |
| Kings Mountain Historical Museum Foundation Inc | NC | $77,367 | Director & Curator | $43,524 | $42,191 | 2023 |
| Greene County Historical Society | PA | $119,793 | Executive Director | $40,508 | $37,897 | 2023 |
| East End African American Museum | NY | $124,562 | Executive Di | $20,000 | $16,955 | 2023 |
| North Myrtle Beach Area Historical | SC | $69,735 | Director | $47,000 | $43,529 | 2025 |
| The Star Spangled Banner | MD | $126,011 | Executive Director | $56,923 | $48,494 | 2024 |
| Amesbury Carriage Museum Inc | MA | $126,485 | Executive Director | $37,800 | $30,953 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to ND cost of living and 2024 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 ND 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 | 19th |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 22nd |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 19th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 19th |
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.