New York · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC (New York) receives grants from 270 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,098,661 to it, the largest being DONALD A PELS CHARITABLE TRUST UTD 8/18/92 C/O PKF O'CONNOR DAVIES ($5,925,000). 146 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $18M
- Funders on record
- 270
- Grants received
- $56M
- Net assets
- $120M
What Friends of the High Line Inc does
Mission
Friends of the high line works to build and maintain an extraordinary public space on the high line. We seek to protect the entire historic structure, transforming an essential piece of new york's industrial past and inspiring new ways of thinking (continued on schedule o) about the city, parks, public space, preservation and community. We provide virtually all of the high line's annual operating budget and are responsible for the maintenance of the park, pursuant to a license agreement with the new york city department of parks & recreation. Through excellence in operations, stewardship, innovative programming, and world-class design, we seek to engage the vibrant and diverse community on and around the high line.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
High line operationsin 2023, fhl operated and maintained the park with a continuing focus on providing a world-class experience for all those who visit. The park, running from gansevoort street to west 34th street, expanded to include a new connection from the spur at 30th street to the moynihan train hall via the public space at brookfield properties' manhattan west development. Visitor counts continued to rebound following the covid-19 pandemic, reaching 6.1 million, which is a million more than 2022's total of 5.1 million visitors. A year-round operations staff of 48 grew by 17 seasonal staff for a total of 67 operations staff to accommodate the peak visitor season during the warm months of the year. (see cont on sch o)the horticulture team managed gardens throughout the park including planting (over 9000 plants), weeding, pruning, watering, and over 200 cubic yards of plant debris removal with our public partners' composting program (180 cubic yards).
$5,834,224 spent$1,350,895 earned by the program36% of program spendingProgramming, art & educationin 2023, fhl exhibited the work of 23 artists in the park, including 6 video exhibitions, 2 performance commissions, 6 sculpture commissions, 1 mural, 1 billboard, and the presentation of the third monumental high line plinth commission. In addition, the art department announced 54 proposals for the fifth and sixth high line plinth commissions, including inviting 12 global curators to nominate 48 artists for the next plinth commissions. High line art also inaugurated it's first "art off line" project in collaboration with fhl's education department and public middle school in the neighborhood, quest to learn. (see cont on sch o)planning and looking forward was the theme for the high line network in 2023. In addition to laying the groundwork for the community-centric 2024 symposium in detroit, the network held the inaugural policy lab in san francisco, ca. The success of this program led to a commitment to continue organizing policy labs to best serve the network. The high line network contracted an education consultant to assess the curriculum and its implementation, and develop recommendations for a full community first toolkit launch in 2024.fhl's…
$4,249,359 spentof which $20,000 as grants$72,830 earned by the program26% of program spendingHigh line planning, construction and capital repairsin 2023, fhl completed construction on two major capital projects, advanced the planning and design for additional small and large-scale projects, and completed a range of capital improvements on the high line.fhl opened the high line x moynihan connector project, a public-private partnership between fhl, empire state development corp., and brookfield properties, on june 22nd. The connector is made up of 2 bridges - the first is woodland bridge and is parallel to 30th st and features trees and plants, and the second is the timber bridge over dyer ave that features a warren-truss structure. (see cont on sch o)the project connects the high line to the public spaces of manhattan west, and allows for access to moynihan train hall and penn station.in addition the connector, a major accessibility-focused project for the high line also was completed: the reconstruction of a new staircase to the high line at 28th st opened on december 17. The project initially included the reconstruction of 2 additional staircases at 20th and 26ths however, due to the need to enter into access agreements with the adjacent property owners, the remaining 2…
$4,675,829 spent$313,962 earned by the program29% of program spendingCommunications
$1,267,910 spent8% of program spendingRetail, venue rentals and concessions
$319,032 spent$996,424 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,346,354.
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 $104M to $117M (+12%).
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 2% · 2020 9% · 2021 7% · 2022 1% · 2023 1% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
61% of FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Alan Van Capelle
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022, and between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 56 funders to 95 funders, grant income rose $1.9M → $9.4M.
19 of 270 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $2.9M from 10 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Jewish Communal Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC raised.
From the IRS filings of FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 270 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
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% 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
25% 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 FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 17% · 2019 26% · 2020 14% · 2021 13% · 2022 19% · 2023 22% — 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
42% of FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
69% of FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $13M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC's funding base is broadening — from 56 funders to 95 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $285k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$285k
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 FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE 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 FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC?
- FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC (New York) receives grants from 270 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,098,661 to it, the largest being DONALD A PELS CHARITABLE TRUST UTD 8/18/92 C/O PKF O'CONNOR DAVIES ($5,925,000). 146 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC have?
- IRS filings report 270 organizations giving $56,098,661 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC, 146 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC?
- DONALD A PELS CHARITABLE TRUST UTD 8/18/92 C/O PKF O'CONNOR DAVIES is the largest funder on record, with $5,925,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 270 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