Virginia · Nonprofit
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (Virginia) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,660 to it, the largest being APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY ($312,102). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $548k
- Net assets
- $12M
What Potomac Appalachian Trail Club does
Mission
The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (the Club), through volunteer efforts, education and advocacy, acquires, maintains and protects the trail and lands of the Appalachian Trail and other trails and related facilities in the Mid-Atlantic region for the enjoyment of present and future hikers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Outreach is a new program started in 2025.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Cabin Services: Purchase, lease or manage cabins that protect the integrity and/or viewshed of pertinent trail lands; provide necessary maintenance and oversight of all cabins; rent cabins at affordable rates for members and general public for their enjoyment of the outdoors.
$327,713 spent$536,280 earned by the program35% of program spendingMember and Communication Services: PATC has 7,231 members at the end of 2025, of whom more than 10 percent volunteer their time in service to the Club, including trail maintenance and monitoring, education, cabin construction and/or maintenance, leave no trace ethics, headquarters administration, etc. All members receive a monthly newsletter, the Potomac Appalachian, monthly email updates, use of member-only cabins, and discounts on PATC merchandise.
$176,686 spent$268,985 earned by the program19% of program spendingOutreach: PATC participates in various events and programs geared toward reaching and educating both members and the general public about the mission of the club, as well as to advocate for the care and appreciation of the AT and other hiking trails. This includes attendance at various public fairs and festivals and the organization of group hikes. PATC also employs six seasonal individuals, known as Ridgerunners, who work on sections of the AT between spring and fall to educate and support hikers. We also maintain a volunteer group of trail advocates, known as the Trail Patrol, who do similar work as the Ridgerunners year round.
$138,493 spent15% of program spendingTrail Patrol: Trail Patrol provides education on a variety of trail related topics such as safety, wilderness first aid, leave no trace principles, backpacking, and hike leadership; volunteers also monitor the trails providing education and safety tips to hikers and reporting potential hazards to the appropriate authorities.
$59,987 spent$77,768 earned by the program6% of program spendingBears Den Lodge & Hostel/Blackburn Trail Center: Provide a respite for thru hikers, section, and day hikers along the Appalachian Trail; located nine miles apart from one another, less than a mile hike from the Appalachian Trail, these facilities provide a bunk or camp site, food and water, and comradery for the weary hiker.
$98,541 spent$97,257 earned by the program10% of program spendingLand Management: PATC-owned land is monitored by volunteer managers who inspect and report on conditions and needed remediation. Staff and volunteers assess prospective acquisitions and coordinate planning, improving and use of lands.
$30,985 spent3% of program spendingTrail Maintenance: Provide erosion control, vegetation removal and overall maintenance of trails and foot bridges to provide hikers with a pleasant and safe experience, including 240 miles of the Appalachian Trail and 700 miles of side trails.
$113,155 spent12% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $945,560.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $9.9M to $11M (+10%).
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 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $50k → $64k.
6 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club’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
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club leans on a few funders — its largest provides 57% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
93% 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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 69% · 2019 66% · 2020 65% · 2021 45% · 2022 54% · 2023 49% — 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
60% of Potomac Appalachian Trail Club'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
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $152k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.
Government funding Potomac Appalachian Trail Club receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $142k on record.
- Department of the Interior$142k
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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
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 Virginia
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
89%
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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club: 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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club?
- Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (Virginia) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,660 to it, the largest being APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY ($312,102). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Potomac Appalachian Trail Club have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $547,660 in grants to Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Potomac Appalachian Trail Club?
- APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY is the largest funder on record, with $312,102 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Potomac Appalachian Trail Club find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Potomac Appalachian Trail Club →
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 19 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