Oregon · Nonprofit
Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau
Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau (Oregon) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $620,108 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION ($250,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $286k
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $620k
- Net assets
- $314k
What Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau does
Mission
The Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau was formed in 2008, in cooperation with the National Park Service, to preserve, protect and improve the cultural and natural resources of the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Friends have created a Historic Furnishings Plan (HFP) to document the restoration of the National Historic Landmark (NHL) Chateau. An HFP is a required part of the proper restoration of an NHL. This assures that the designation is retained and maintained when a concessioner is chosen to operate the lodge. This is a multi-phase plan that will culminate in a Maintenance Plan. The Chateau was built in 1934 by the Oregon Caves Company, group of local investors. The design of the buildings, using local material in a rustic fashion is in keeping with most of the historic lodges found in the National Parks. Grants Pass builder and self taught architect designed and built the Chateau. The bark siding is from native Port Orford cedar trees. The building's massing proportion, 6 stories, 28,000 square feet, with 25 rooms, 2 restaurants and sited within a canyon at the head of the ravine, allows it to be less intrusive and makes it a remarkable asset to the region and the National Park Service. Visitors come from all over the US and many foreign countries.
$13,539 spent10% of program spendingThe Friends are restoring the Monterey furniture collection, original to the Chateau and have received many pieces as donations to fill out the collection. This will be the largest single public collection of this iconic furniture and the Chateau will be the only lodge in the NPS with it's original furniture in the guest rooms. Wildly popular when it was manufactured from 1929 to 1941 by the Mason Manufacturing Company in Los Angeles. The Spanish Revival style is hand crafted from Oregon Alder, and many pieces include wrought iron accents. There are several styles, some painted with a floral design and others with a Spanish motif. The furniture is authentically branded with a horseshoe and the word Monterey.
$33,848 spent25% of program spendingIn 2025 the Oregon Caves Chateau was designated as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Properties in the US by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This designation brought national attention to the need for restoration and a partnership with the National Trust. Also, the Friends have formed a Blue-Ribbon Committee to work with the Board to assist with the fundraising to assist the NPS to secure the funding needed to complete the full historic restoation of thee Chateau.
$88,004 spent65% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $135,391.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $169k to $251k (+48%).
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: 2020 95% · 2025 74%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Sue Densmore
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $180k → $20k.
6 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau’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
Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
79% 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 Oregon Caves and Chateau.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 83% · 2019 54% · 2020 66% · 2021 100% · 2022 62% · 2023 50% — growing more concentrated.
“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
25% of Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau draws 63% of its grant income from funders outside Oregon, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $193k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 Oregon Caves and Chateau runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $791k on record.
- DISTRIBUTION TO NON-PROFIT ORG$771k
- DISTRIBUTION TO NON-GOVERNMENTS$20k
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 Oregon Caves and Chateau
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
61% 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 Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau: 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 Oregon Caves and Chateau?
- Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau (Oregon) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $620,108 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION ($250,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $620,108 in grants to Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau?
- NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $250,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau 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.
Play a game about who funds Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 15 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