Montana · Nonprofit
CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE
CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE (Montana) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,174 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($23,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $114k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $41k
- Net assets
- $151k
What Citizens for Balanced Use does
Mission
To educate the public on the issues that confront our ability to access and actively manage our public lands.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024, cbu marked its 20th year advocating for multiple-use access to public lands. The organization participated in numerous collaborative groups (bdwg, bedrc, tsra, swmcc) and meetings across montana and neighboring states, promoting responsible forest management, trail development, and access for all users, including the elderly and disabled.cbu opposed restrictive designations like new wilderness areas and conservation easements, citing their negative impact on local economies and land access. They supported initiatives like the buck creek national recreation area, mccarty road survey, and fish creek trail development.the group raised awareness about the misuse of the equal access to justice act (eaja), excessive litigation, and regulatory burdens that hinder land and resource management. Cbu also engaged in public education, fundraising events like the trailraiser banquet, and media outreach including montana talks.they advocated for revising federal acts (esa, nepa, eaja), supported resource development, and worked with local governments to preserve cultural heritage and economic vitality in rural communities. Cbu remains committed to protecting access, promoting…
$121,541 spentof which $5,400 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $121,541.
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 2021 to 2022, from $102k to $137k (+34%).
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: 2022 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Kerry White
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $13k → $5k.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
56% 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 CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 98% · 2023 99% — 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.
Where its funders are
56% of CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $18k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Montana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE is better cushioned than half of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE
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 Montana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE: 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 CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE?
- CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE (Montana) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,174 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($23,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $41,174 in grants to CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $23,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Montana. 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 3 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