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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Coos Art Museum

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 936041248
OR · NTEE A510
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Lydia Heins, Executive Director / CEO ($67,333) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 51 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 39th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

51 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 51 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4 total compensation of comparable organizations → $180,993 $67,333
$13,69410th
$61,09825th
$75,368Median
$93,70875th
$105,65090th
$67,333This org · 39th
p10$13,694
p25$61,098
p50$75,368
p75$93,708
p90$105,650
$67,333

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 OR 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
Quincy Art Center IL$484,086 Executive Director $64,913 $66,949 2025
4 Elements Studio Inc NY$483,049 Executive Director $62,000 $60,329 2024
Washington Project For The Arts Inc DC$487,921 Interim Executive Dir (Thru April) $52,404 $50,982 2023
Visual Art Exchange NC$490,255 Executive Director $65,795 $75,368 2023
Lowell Art Association MA$475,992 President $106,923 $103,464 2024
Coleman Center Board Of The City Of York AL$504,812 Executive Director $65,000 $75,617 2024
Headley-whitney Museum Inc KY$507,659 Executive Dir. $68,462 $79,204 2024
Arnot Art Museum NY$460,339 Trustee $4 $4 2023
Museum Of Neon Art CA$508,173 Executive Direc $64,625 $61,866 2023
Torrance Cultural Arts Center CA$457,647 Executive Director $101,435 $94,318 2024
Steamboat Art Museum CO$524,298 Executive Dir. $97,683 $100,862 2024
Owensboro Museum Of Fine Art Inc KY$525,604 President/director $81,036 $93,751 2024
Richmond Art Museum IN$528,388 Executive Director $117,660 $133,612 2024
Lagrange Art Museum Inc GA$422,931 Executive Di $65,473 $70,890 2024
Dashboard Co-op Inc GA$547,865 Executive Di $78,883 $87,932 2023
The Book Club Of California CA$548,575 Executive Di $194,650 $180,993 2024
Greenville Museum Of Art Inc NC$551,806 Executive Di $61,800 $66,989 2025
Mcrd Museum Historical Society CA$558,565 Executive Dir. $110,000 $102,282 2024
Art Museum Of Greater IN$565,307 Executive Di $42,615 $49,822 2023
Holter Museum Of Art MT$569,414 Executive Dir. $5,385 $6,435 2023
Doral Contemporary Art Museum Inc FL$398,641 President $2,000 $2,023 2024
Concrete Couch CO$396,632 Executive Director $60,000 $63,782 2023
North Carolina Pottery Museum Inc NC$394,862 Executive Director $68,195 $73,921 2025
Santa Paula Art Museum CA$394,622 Executive Di $99,274 $92,309 2024
Nicolaysen Art Museum WY$579,770 Executive Director $65,154 $75,128 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to OR 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 OR 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 default39th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)49th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted41st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted37th

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 (Lydia Heins) 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 51 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A51), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $67,333 is reasonable (approximately the 39th 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.