Executive Director / CEO
This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Cana, Executive Director / CEO ($9,061) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 95 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.
Compensation sits at approximately the 1st percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations
Benchmarked executive: Karen Cana — reported title “Executive Director”, 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); the reported amount is on each linked 990.
| Organization | State | Revenue | Matched title | Comp (reported) | Comp (adjusted) | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Ski Museum Inc | NH | $497,445 | Executive Director (Former) | $70,000 | $70,000 | 2024 |
| Swift Museum Foundation Inc | TN | $495,234 | Exec Director | $33,600 | $33,600 | 2024 |
| National Soaring Museum | NY | $493,119 | Director | $73,298 | $73,298 | 2024 |
| Finger Lakes Boating Musuem Inc | NY | $492,302 | Executive Director | $75,000 | $75,000 | 2024 |
| Hawaii Mobile Museum Of Tolerance | HI | $489,330 | Executive Director | $130,000 | $130,000 | 2024 |
| Afro-american Historical Association Of Fauquier County | VA | $487,717 | Pres, Exec Dir | $36,664 | $36,664 | 2024 |
| Capri Community Film Society Inc | AL | $483,006 | Director | $77,678 | $79,972 | 2023 |
| The Muzeo Foundation | CA | $516,592 | Executive Dir. | $113,033 | $110,119 | 2025 |
| Jacksonville Area Center For Independent | IL | $519,920 | Executive Dir. | $50,000 | $50,000 | 2024 |
| Japanese American Museum Of Oregon | OR | $520,012 | Executive Director | $110,000 | $110,000 | 2024 |
| Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall Of | SD | $522,600 | Executive Di | $87,353 | $87,353 | 2024 |
| Hawaiian Railway Society | HI | $471,022 | Key Employee | $51,600 | $51,600 | 2024 |
| Tree Of Life Foundation | ME | $525,958 | Executive Director | $83,578 | $83,578 | 2024 |
| Hydroplane And Raceboat Museum | WA | $526,712 | Executive Director | $66,000 | $66,000 | 2024 |
| Branford Electric Railway Assoc Inc | CT | $528,110 | Executive Dir. | $88,067 | $88,067 | 2024 |
| Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers' | TX | $528,782 | Executive Director | $136,583 | $140,617 | 2023 |
| American Saddle Horse | KY | $465,305 | Executive Director | $102,750 | $102,750 | 2024 |
| Webster Museums Incoroprated | MA | $530,751 | Clerk | $70,000 | $72,068 | 2023 |
| New England Carousel Museum Inc | CT | $462,629 | Executive Dir. | $60,192 | $60,192 | 2024 |
| Lowell's Maritime Foundation Inc | MA | $460,259 | Executive Director | $75,602 | $75,602 | 2024 |
| Yosemite Climbing Association | CA | $535,487 | Secretary | $38,470 | $39,606 | 2023 |
| Galveston Children's Museum | TX | $459,157 | Executive Director | $60,659 | $62,451 | 2023 |
| Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum | NH | $537,891 | Executive Director | $69,216 | $69,216 | 2024 |
| Hammonds House Museum Inc | GA | $537,894 | Managing Direct | $79,061 | $79,061 | 2024 |
| The Edge Motor Museum Inc | TN | $454,726 | Executive Director | $85,000 | $85,000 | 2024 |
Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to PR 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. 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 | 1st |
| Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments) | 1st |
| Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted | 5th |
| All sources (D + E + F), adjusted | 1st |
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.