Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SCENIC AMERICA
SCENIC AMERICA (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,152,452 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($987,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $2.0M
What Scenic America does
Mission
Established in 1982, Scenic America is the leading national advocacy organization promoting scenic byways, utility underground, highway beautification, responsible community development (continued on sch o)
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Cementing our position as the leading voice for scenic byways, in 2019, we steered the effort in congress to restore the national scenic byways program to fuel economic development and community pride in places located along these iconic roadways. With the program revived, Scenic America then worked to secure its first dedicated funding in nearly a decade through the fy 21, 22, and 23 appropriations cycles for a total of 42 million. Additional funding is anticipated in the fy 24 appropriations bill, thanks to our continued advocacy work. (continued on sch o)
$1,194,184 spentof which $55,590 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,194,184.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2024 to 2025, from $1.7M to $2.6M (+52%).
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: 2021 5% · 2022 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of SCENIC AMERICA’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. 1 of the last 7 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 8 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $140k → $533k.
8 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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 SCENIC AMERICA’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
SCENIC AMERICA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
45% 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 SCENIC AMERICA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 71% · 2018 92% · 2019 33% · 2020 41% · 2021 28% · 2022 34% · 2023 44% — 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
53% of SCENIC AMERICA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
SCENIC AMERICA draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
SCENIC AMERICA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,209 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SCENIC AMERICA receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $150k on record.
- Department of the Interior$150k
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 SCENIC AMERICA
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 21 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCENIC AMERICA: 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 SCENIC AMERICA?
- SCENIC AMERICA (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,152,452 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($987,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCENIC AMERICA have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $3,152,452 in grants to SCENIC AMERICA, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCENIC AMERICA?
- New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $987,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCENIC AMERICA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 26 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