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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Hawaii Science And Technology

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 810769543
HI · NTEE A50
FY ending 2022-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christian Wong, Executive Director / CEO ($23,350) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 84 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 17th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Christian Wong — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

84 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 84 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$689 total compensation of comparable organizations → $153,651 $23,350
$17,33910th
$28,83325th
$51,431Median
$79,25975th
$94,53090th
$23,350This org · 17th
p10$17,339
p25$28,833
p50$51,431
p75$79,259
p90$94,530
$23,350

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 HI 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
Rehoboth Beach Historical Society DE$288,552 Executive Director $62,030 $63,299 2024
House Of Miles East St Louis IL$289,128 President & Ceo $7,500 $7,684 2024
Montana Beyond The Classroom MT$289,365 Executive Director $53,699 $60,325 2024
Slave Dwelling Project Inc SC$285,486 President $58,051 $63,115 2024
Georgia Music Foundation Inc GA$291,935 Foundation M $25,000 $26,970 2023
Casey Tibbs Foundation SD$292,081 Director Of Center $85,458 $98,291 2024
Arkansas Sports Hall Of Fame Inc AR$292,446 Executive Dir. $88,000 $106,132 2023
Edison Memorial Tower Corporation NJ$293,330 Museum Direc $15,115 $14,064 2024
Superior Public Museums WI$293,842 Executive Director $26,640 $28,995 2024
Red Wing Collectors Society Foundation MN$294,173 Museum Director $39,851 $42,250 2023
Ecovivarium CA$294,999 Employee Representative $18,515 $16,662 2024
Dennison Railroad Depot Museum Inc OH$297,390 Executive Director/secretary $58,321 $64,376 2024
Classic Car Club Of America Museum Inc MI$277,157 Executive Director $57,917 $62,301 2024
Heart & Soul UT$276,697 Executive Di $59,886 $63,876 2024
Saint Charles County Veterans Museum MO$274,662 Executive Director $75,000 $82,786 2024
The Tyler Rose Museum Inc TX$272,110 Executive Dir. $93,890 $97,880 2024
Western Illinois Museum IL$270,430 Executive Director $39,561 $40,533 2024
Coliseum Museum Of Art Antiques And IL$268,238 Executive Di $50,000 $51,229 2024
Global Village Museum Of Arts & Cul CO$309,564 Executive Director $22,890 $22,875 2024
Ohio Air & Space Hall Of Fame OH$309,720 Exec Director $36,000 $40,911 2023
Astrodome Conservancy TX$266,400 Executive Director $100,323 $107,675 2023
Nia Centre MI$264,657 Executive Director $70,733 $78,334 2023
Colorado Ski Museum Inc CO$313,822 Executive Dir. $126,460 $130,106 2023
Racing History Preservation Group NH$314,527 Executive Di $90,881 $90,038 2023
Friends Of Sequoyah TN$315,037 Director $80,421 $90,700 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to HI cost of living and 2022 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 HI 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 default17th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)18th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted17th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Christian Wong) 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 84 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A50), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $23,350 is reasonable (approximately the 17th 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.