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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Star Spangled Banner

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 520591490
MD · NTEE A540
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Amanda Shores Davis, Executive Director / CEO ($56,923) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 50 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 86th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

50 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 50 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,801 total compensation of comparable organizations → $80,921 $56,923
$10,15910th
$20,98225th
$34,972Median
$48,87175th
$61,83290th
$56,923This org · 86th
p10$10,159
p25$20,982
p50$34,972
p75$48,871
p90$61,832
$56,923

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 MD 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
Amesbury Carriage Museum Inc MA$126,485 Executive Director $37,800 $36,333 2024
Destin Fishing Museum Foundati FL$126,655 Executive Dir $45,444 $45,664 2024
East End African American Museum NY$124,562 Executive Di $20,000 $19,902 2023
Cimarron Heritage Center OK$128,001 Director $30,000 $34,424 2025
General John A Logan Museum IL$128,680 Executive Di $27,300 $29,555 2023
Museum Of The West Texas Frontier TX$128,710 Director $10,615 $11,358 2024
North Texas Society Of History & Culture TX$131,331 Executive Director $15,500 $16,584 2024
River Valley Pioneer Museum TX$131,346 Executive Dir. $37,000 $39,588 2024
Greene County Historical Society PA$119,793 Executive Director $40,508 $44,484 2023
Mendota Museum & Historical Society IL$116,319 Director $19,500 $20,506 2024
Historic Palmyra Inc NY$135,713 Executive Director $37,035 $35,796 2024
The Glenn L Martin MD$136,329 Executive Dir. $69,396 $69,396 2024
Veterans Memorial Museum CA$113,890 Ceo/director $30,000 $28,527 2023
The William E Swigart Jr Automobile Museum PA$140,026 Treasurer $9,855 $10,512 2024
Scottsboro-jackson Heritage Center AL$141,493 Director $20,196 $23,338 2024
Heritage Museum Of Montgomery County TX$142,402 Executive Director $20,946 $22,411 2024
Sanford-springvale Historical Society ME$142,583 Executive Director $29,175 $30,443 2025
Huntington African American Museum Inc NY$107,966 Executive Director $26,522 $25,635 2024
The American Classic Arcade Museum NH$105,991 Director $18,200 $18,507 2023
The Museum Of North Texas History TX$148,127 Executive Director $27,692 $29,629 2024
The Charnley-persky House Museum IL$149,312 Executive Director - Term $6,193 $6,705 2023
Bayfield Heritage Association Inc WI$102,049 Exec Directo $6,067 $6,977 2023
Center For Documentary Expression UT$151,368 Executive Di $54,000 $60,862 2023
Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum Inc MS$151,523 Sec Treas And Executive Director $57,200 $70,155 2023
Haverhill Historical Society MA$152,088 Director And Curator $34,356 $32,171 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MD 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 MD 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 default86th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)88th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted86th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted84th

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 (Amanda Shores Davis) 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 50 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A54), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $56,923 is reasonable (approximately the 86th 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.