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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Southeastern Museums Conference

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 541042825
GA · NTEE A50Z
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Zinnia Willits, Executive Director / CEO ($83,825) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 96 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 77th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

96 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 96 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,123 total compensation of comparable organizations → $142,349 $83,825
$21,42310th
$37,51125th
$58,941Median
$81,49975th
$100,99790th
$83,825This org · 77th
p10$21,423
p25$37,511
p50$58,941
p75$81,499
p90$100,997
$83,825

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 GA 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
The Coming King Foundation TX$410,943 Executve Director $33,857 $33,683 2023
German Village Society OH$410,500 Executive Di $83,333 $87,781 2023
Rancho Obi-wan Inc CA$419,326 President/ce $29,795 $24,853 2024
Owensboro Area Museum Of Science And History Inc KY$396,253 Director $43,828 $45,487 2024
Long Island Maritime Museum NY$429,337 Executive Director $75,094 $67,487 2023
Kids 'N' Stuff An Interactive Experience For Kids MI$386,571 Executive Director $57,577 $57,409 2024
German American Heritage Center IA$437,510 Executive Di $67,083 $70,955 2024
Fullerton Museum Center Association CA$440,563 Executive Director $120,300 $103,313 2023
Center For Land Use Interpretation CA$379,426 President $51,600 $44,314 2023
Insectarium And Butterfly Pavilion Inc VA$379,388 President And Director $8,481 $8,144 2023
Ashland Community Enterprises PA$377,757 President $36,941 $35,587 2024
Portland Chinatown History Foundation OR$376,336 Executive Director $22,750 $21,012 2023
Wheels O' Time Museum IL$375,037 Executive Director $49,500 $47,010 2024
African Amercan Cultural Inc LA$369,272 Manager $21,196 $22,547 2024
River Road African American Museum And Gallery LA$454,431 Executive Director $32,542 $34,615 2024
The Edge Motor Museum Inc TN$454,726 Executive Director $85,000 $86,310 2024
Galveston Children's Museum TX$459,157 Executive Director $60,659 $60,347 2023
Lowell's Maritime Foundation Inc MA$460,259 Executive Director $75,602 $65,628 2024
Anderson Abruzzo Intl Balloon Museum Fdn NM$361,536 Executive Director $83,977 $87,252 2024
New England Carousel Museum Inc CT$462,629 Executive Dir. $60,192 $54,518 2024
American Saddle Horse KY$465,305 Executive Director $102,750 $106,639 2024
The Museum Of Public Relations NJ$356,754 President & Ceo $70,833 $62,898 2023
Museum At Portland Head Light ME$354,823 Museum Direc $14,324 $14,265 2023
Hawaiian Railway Society HI$471,022 Key Employee $51,600 $44,628 2024
Texas Association Of Museums TX$352,199 Executive Director $73,000 $72,624 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to GA 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 GA 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 default77th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)77th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted70th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted75th

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 (Zinnia Willits) 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 96 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $83,825 is reasonable (approximately the 77th 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.