Oregon · Nonprofit
American Whitewater
American Whitewater (Oregon) receives grants from 85 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,486,400 to it, the largest being AMERICAN RIVERS INC ($1,395,828). 58 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.4M
- Funders on record
- 85
- Grants received
- $5.5M
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What American Whitewater does
Mission
As a national river conservation nonprofit, our mission is to protect and restore Americas whitewater rivers and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Conservation and Access: American Whitewaters core mission-related work is the conservation, restoration, and responsible management of whitewater rivers. In 2023 American Whitewater helped introduce legislation to designate over 1400 miles of National Wild and Scenic Rivers (NM, CA, MT, WA), as well as conservation legislation for the Dolores River in CO and several areas in OR. American Whitewater supported the creation of the 1.1 million acre Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints Grand Canyon National Monument. Through engaging in National Forest planning American Whitewater secured Wild and Scenic eligible status for 600 miles of streams in CA and NC. American Whitewater directly participated in management decisions that improved flows and river access associated with dams on at least 33 rivers across
$1,573,095 spent$32,500 earned by the program100% of program spendingthe country. Flows were restored to the Great Falls of the Catawba River in 2023 based on two decades of work by American Whitewater. In addition, American Whitewater celebrated the removal of Copco 2 Dam on the Klamath River, and ensured river access was part of the removal plan. American Whitewater secured nine new river access areas (SC, CA, OR, WA), helped secure funding for additional access in OR and UT, and secured a new stream gauge on the Colorado River. Lastly, we worked successfully to reverse paddling prohibitions at whitewater boat ramps in CO. All told these efforts benefited several thousand miles of spectacular rivers and hundreds of thousands of river enthusiasts.
Public Education American Whitewater educates the paddling community, general public, federal agencies, and decision makers on river stewardship issues and opportunities through several outlets. American Whitewater maintains and posts weekly content on the go-to website of the paddling community. Our website features news, action alerts, and descriptions of roughly 5,800 whitewater river reaches. The organization also reaches over 50,000 people through action alerts and monthly email newsletters, and regularly posts to a Facebook page with over 35,000 followers. American Whitewaters roughly 7,000 members and over 80 affiliate clubs receive our print journal published five times per year. American Whitewater conducted several online trainings related to river access and presented on Wild and Scenic Rivers, fish barriers, and river access law at online conferences and events. American Whitewater educated the public on responsible river use through the Paddle Wise program, through the production of two new river safety films, and through a new open-source river safety signage project. Lastly, we worked to deepen and broaden our education and engagement on the rich tribal context of…
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,573,095.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $2.2M to $2.5M (+14%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 4% · 2020 3% · 2021 8% · 2022 7% · 2023 4% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of American Whitewater’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Clinton Begley
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 45 funders, grant income rose $273k → $734k.
16 of 85 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of American Whitewater’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 85 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
American Whitewater has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
55% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund American Whitewater.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 58% · 2019 44% · 2020 32% · 2021 23% · 2022 23% · 2023 17% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
56% of American Whitewater's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
American Whitewater draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Oregon, across 26 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
American Whitewater's funding base is broadening — from 17 funders to 45 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding American Whitewater receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $745k on record — $726k federal, $19k state.
- Department of Homeland Security$545k
- Department of Agriculture$181k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$19k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like American Whitewater
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 40 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for American Whitewater: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds American Whitewater?
- American Whitewater (Oregon) receives grants from 85 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,486,400 to it, the largest being AMERICAN RIVERS INC ($1,395,828). 58 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does American Whitewater have?
- IRS filings report 85 organizations giving $5,486,400 in grants to American Whitewater, 58 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of American Whitewater?
- AMERICAN RIVERS INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,395,828 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like American Whitewater find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 85 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing