Kentucky · Nonprofit
MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC
MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,037,636 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION ($1,036,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.7M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $11M
What McCreary County Heritage Foundation Inc does
Mission
To preserve the heritage of mccreary county, kentucky and to provide educational and recreational benefits to the citizens and visitors of mccreary county.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation operates the big south fork scenic railway. The train travels down into the big south fork river valley away from civilization, along roaring mountain streams, through a tunnel, and along steep cliff sides. It finally enters the big south fork national river and recreation area just below barthell, the oldest coal camp on the railroad, which traces its beginnings back to 1902. The train makes a stopover at blue heron, which is the site of a mine, tipple, and surrounding camp houses which were abondoned in 1962. There, the visitors can take a self-guided tour. Over 13500 passengers experienced life in a coal camp.
$612,050 spent$1,116,199 earned by the program75% of program spendingThe foundation also operates the stearns historic golf course. The golf course was built circa 1920. It is one of the oldest golf courses in the state of kentucky. The course hosted over 6000 rounds of golf
$175,775 spent$172,579 earned by the program22% of program spendingThe foundation also manages a museum, which is located in the historic downtown district of stearns, ky. It is housed in the old stearns coal and lumber company corporate headquarters that was built in 1907.
$28,093 spent$32,308 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $815,918.
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 2023 to 2024, from $7.9M to $13M (+69%).
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: 2019 26% · 2020 66% · 2021 0% · 2022 9% · 2023 9% · 2024 74%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
80% of MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Ray Moncrief
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $180k → $131k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC’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
MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 100% 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
100% 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 MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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
100% of MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC'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 $2k that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Kentucky funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M 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
MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.9M on record.
- Department of Commerce$5.9M
- Department of Agriculture$25k
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 MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION 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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION 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 MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC?
- MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,037,636 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION ($1,036,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $1,037,636 in grants to MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC?
- AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,036,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 4 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