Massachusetts · Nonprofit
Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Club (Massachusetts) receives grants from 311 organizations whose IRS filings report $57,339,182 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($12,216,929). 219 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $44M
- Funders on record
- 311
- Grants received
- $57M
- Net assets
- $209M
What Appalachian Mountain Club does
Mission
Since 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club has promoted the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region. We are the nation's oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Outdoor Program Centers - The Appalachian Mountain Club (the AMC) manages more than 40 outdoor program centers and backcountry facilities, including lodges, mountain huts, full-service camps, cabins, shelters and campgrounds. These AMC facilities serve as a base for 4-season recreational activities, nature and environmental education courses, programs, scientific research, outdoor artistic pursuits, and other conservation-related activities. Visitors and overnight guests enjoy a broad range of walk-on programs, guided naturalist activities, outdoor recreational safety and skill building workshops, and backcountry activities to choose from. AMC facilities *Refer to Schedule O, Page 46 for Continuation*Outdoor Program Centers (Continued):are managed to reduce environmental impact by providing environmentally sensitive septic systems, composting, public drinking water, and overnight accommodations (some near treeline and in sensitive alpine areas) in areas where camping would have severe effects on the alpine plant life. The AMC facilities provide information and education on the local environment, recreational opportunities, outdoor safety, trails, and emergency shelter. The AMC…
$15,357,313 spentof which $1,500 as grants$13,139,020 earned by the program49% of program spendingMembership - The Appalachian Mountain Club (the AMC) members provide the grassroots network through which the AMC delivers its programming on a local level throughout our 12 state and district regions. The more than 400,000 members, advocates and supporters of the AMC provide a base of volunteers for trail projects, local clean-up and conservation projects, outdoor education and safety instruction. These members and volunteers organize and lead thousands of recreational outings and provide the local governance structure for the 11 local AMC chapters. Member dues and participation in the above mentioned activities provide a critical base of support for carrying out the AMC mission.
$1,098,918 spent$7,901 earned by the program3% of program spendingConservation Research and Policy - The Appalachian Mountain Club (the AMC) actively fosters the protection, enjoyment and understanding of the outdoors. The AMC's Research and Policy Program conducts analyses of natural ecosystems to guide our efforts to protect natural and recreational resources from Maine to Virginia. This includes studying changes in land cover and land use and the impact of these changes on ecological and recreational resources; monitoring air quality and climate change impacts on Northeastern mountain ecosystems; analyzing in-stream flow criteria and hydroelectric dam operation impacts on river ecosystems and recreational resources; developing methods to reduce recreational user impacts on the region's*Refer to Schedule O, Pages 46-47 for Continuation*Conservation Research and Policy (Continued):mountains and trails; and studying the benefits and impacts of different transportation options and energy sources, including renewable energy, on the ecosystems of concern to the AMC. Achievements are exemplified by the development and successful implementation of the recovery plan for an alpine plant formerly listed on the federal endangered species list,…
$3,949,314 spentof which $9,900 as grants$34,988 earned by the program13% of program spending1. Education Program - The Appalachian Mountain Club (the AMC) works with approximately 30,000 young people each year through guided and self-guided programs designed to make the outdoors and the environment accessible and meaningful to people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Our programs serve participants from Maine to New Jersey and include day and overnight school programs (grades K-12), walk-on activities offered to families coming through the AMC's huts and lodges, weekend long skill-based trainings, to one to three-week outdoor summer adventures. Across programs, hands-on experiences teach participants how to enjoy the outdoors through skills-building and improved understanding of the natural world as well as how to minimize their impact on the environment. 2. Trails Program - The AMC staff and more than 5,000 volunteers are engaged in on-the-ground recreation management and trail maintenance on 1,823 miles of trails, including more than 300 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in five states. Many of these trails are on public lands, including the White Mountain National Forest, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Acadia National Park, and state parks…
$11,045,867 spentof which $17,060 as grants$6,974,569 earned by the program35% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $31,451,412.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2020 to 2021, from $188M to $209M (+11%).
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: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 7% · 2021 10% · 2022 17% · 2023 5% · 2024 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
46% of Appalachian Mountain Club’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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
Nicole Zussman
President & CEO
Board chair
Yvette Austin Smith
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 69 funders to 147 funders, grant income rose $6.8M → $13M.
40 of 311 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% 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 Appalachian Mountain Club’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 311 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
Appalachian Mountain Club has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
50% 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 Appalachian Mountain Club.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 42% · 2019 19% · 2020 25% · 2021 38% · 2022 33% · 2023 32% — 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
54% of Appalachian Mountain Club's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
53% of Appalachian Mountain Club's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23M arriving through sponsors registered in 22 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
Appalachian Mountain Club is better cushioned than half of the 330 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 330 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding Appalachian Mountain Club receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.5M on record — $5.8M federal, $688k state.
- Department of the Interior$3.1M
- Department of Agriculture$2.6M
- Environmental Protection Agency$70k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$55k
- MA$675k
- NJ$12k
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 Appalachian Mountain Club
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 11 states
Part of a family of 5 related entities
- AMC Maine Woods Initiative LLC · disregarded
- AMC Ore Mountain LLC · disregarded
- AMC MW Funding LLC · disregarded
- KI-Jo Mary Inc · corp_trust
- Environmental Insurance Agency Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Appalachian Mountain Club: 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 Appalachian Mountain Club?
- Appalachian Mountain Club (Massachusetts) receives grants from 311 organizations whose IRS filings report $57,339,182 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($12,216,929). 219 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Appalachian Mountain Club have?
- IRS filings report 311 organizations giving $57,339,182 in grants to Appalachian Mountain Club, 219 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Appalachian Mountain Club?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $12,216,929 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Appalachian Mountain Club find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 2017–2024), and the filings of 311 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