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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

National Native American Hall Of Fame

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 813870734
MT · NTEE A54
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of James P Shield, Executive Director / CEO ($30,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 103 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: James P Shield — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

103 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 103 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,978 total compensation of comparable organizations → $165,710 $30,000
$24,34910th
$39,76625th
$53,433Median
$69,39675th
$84,82390th
$30,000This org · 17th
p10$24,349
p25$39,766
p50$53,433
p75$69,396
p90$84,823
$30,000

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 MT 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
Fort Chadbourne Foundation TX$395,333 Director $45,510 $43,480 2023
King Manor Assoc Of Long Island Inc NY$393,329 Executive Director $68,720 $57,607 2024
Dekalb County History Center IL$392,710 Executive Di $62,577 $58,758 2023
American Museum Tort Law Inc CT$391,615 Executive Director $71,635 $62,309 2024
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Inc CA$391,377 President/historian (Started 1/7/24) $18,000 $14,419 2024
Livingston Depot Foundation Inc MT$387,692 Executive Di $60,000 $60,000 2024
Gammelgarden Museum Of Scandia MN$386,836 Director $56,806 $52,072 2024
Moffat Road Railroad Museum Association CO$406,818 Executive Director $53,200 $47,324 2024
The Museum - Greenwood South SC$382,009 Executive Di $53,820 $55,824 2022
Cleveland Coordinating Committee For Cod Inc OH$416,348 President $40,000 $38,290 2025
The Castle Museum OH$374,119 Executive Di $65,157 $64,021 2024
Tillamook County Pioneer Museum OR$373,195 Executive Dir. $52,576 $46,633 2023
William Fremont Harn Gardens Inc OK$419,254 Executive Director $46,505 $47,506 2024
Natural History Institute AZ$370,062 Executive Dir. $96,726 $88,847 2023
Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum Inc WI$367,963 Administrative Executive D $44,200 $42,823 2024
Nichols House Museum Inc MA$367,783 Executive Di $102,202 $85,200 2024
National Food And Beverage Foundation LA$424,500 President/ceo $22,600 $23,086 2024
Aliceville Museum Inc AL$366,684 Executive Director $81,834 $82,016 2024
Whiteside Museum Of Natural History TX$425,462 Museum Curator $71,000 $65,887 2024
Heritage Museum Of Orange County CA$365,000 Executive Dir. $52,500 $42,056 2024
Minnesota Masonic Historical Society And MN$426,374 President/ceo - Charities $34,208 $32,283 2023
West Virginia Mine Wars Museum WV$364,225 Executive Director $66,619 $66,916 2024
Museum Of American Heritage CA$428,902 Former Executive Director $80,588 $64,556 2024
Poplar Grove Foundation Inc NC$430,892 Executive Dir. $50,750 $50,084 2023
Lompoc Museum Associates Inc CA$433,480 Director $53,068 $41,415 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT 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 MT 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)16th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted17th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted15th

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 (James P Shield) 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 103 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A54), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $30,000 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.