Maryland · Nonprofit
C&O CANAL TRUST INC
C&O CANAL TRUST INC (Maryland) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,297,683 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($313,497). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 64
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $1.9M
What C&O Canal Trust Inc does
Mission
To work in partnership with the national park service to protect, restore and promote the c&o canal national historical park. The trust seeks to ensure that the park's natural, historical, and recreational potential is fully realized.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education, interpretation and outreach:interpretation and education - as the official nonprofit partner of the c&o canal national historical park, the c&o canal trust works closely with the national park service (nps) to develop and manage unique and innovative interpretive and education programs that enhance the visitor experience. 1) the c&o canal trust's nationally acclaimed and award-winning canal quarters program continues to provide immersive interpretive experiences for overnight visitors. The seven restored lockhouses provide a unique experience from different periods in the c&o canal's history. The program hosted nearly 3,000 visitors for overnight programs in fy25. 2) the c&o canal trust provided critical funds to support the park's canal classrooms education program, which delivers curriculum-based steam (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) instruction to area school children. Programs immerse k-12 students into the natural and historical resources of the c&o canal by planning programming in an "outdoor classroom" setting in the park. In fy25, over 3,000 students visited the park through the canal classrooms program. Over 35 field trips were delivered, with…
$902,086 spentof which $170,908 as grants$216,804 earned by the program77% of program spendingOther programs:volunteer engagement-the c&o canal trust actively recruits and oversees several volunteer programs to provide meaningful opportunities for the public to contribute to the care and support of the park.1) the c&o canal trust mobilized over 700 volunteers in fy25 for the 18th year of the canal community days program. These volunteers donated over $300,000 worth of in-kind labor to conservation, access, infrastructure improvement, and historic preservation projects in the park. 2) the c&o canal trust's volunteer quartermasters program continues to provide volunteer support for the upkeep and general maintenance and preservation of the canal quarters lockhouses. The program had 43 volunteer quartermasters in fy25.
$274,511 spent23% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,176,597.
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 2024 to 2025, from $1.8M to $2.3M (+32%).
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 5% · 2021 7% · 2022 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of C&O CANAL TRUST INC’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. 0 of the last 9 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.
Board chair
Francis Grant-Suttie
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 32 funders, grant income rose $212k → $357k.
13 of 64 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 C&O CANAL TRUST INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 64 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
C&O CANAL TRUST INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
68% 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 C&O CANAL TRUST INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 14% · 2019 18% · 2020 19% · 2021 22% · 2022 14% · 2023 22% — broadly stable.
“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
55% of C&O CANAL TRUST INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
C&O CANAL TRUST INC draws 54% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
C&O CANAL TRUST INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding C&O CANAL TRUST INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.2M on record.
- Department of the Interior$1.2M
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 C&O CANAL TRUST INC
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for C&O CANAL TRUST INC: 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 C&O CANAL TRUST INC?
- C&O CANAL TRUST INC (Maryland) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,297,683 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($313,497). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does C&O CANAL TRUST INC have?
- IRS filings report 64 organizations giving $2,297,683 in grants to C&O CANAL TRUST INC, 47 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of C&O CANAL TRUST INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $313,497 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like C&O CANAL TRUST INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 64 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing