Arizona · Nonprofit
SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY
SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY (Arizona) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $124,100 to it, the largest being ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($73,800). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $96k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $124k
- Net assets
- $3.6M
What Scottsdale Railroad and Mechanical Society does
Mission
The society provides financial and technical assistance to the mccormick stillman railroad park in scottsdale, az, for the enhancement and the enjoyment of the park by children, their families, and railroad enthusiasts.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The society continues to be a major sponsor and supporter of various events at the park - concert series, railfair, special children's events, halloween, holiday lights, and members' night. In 2025, the society also supported events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the park. The expenses incurred for these events totaled $72,851. Other grants to the city of scottsdale in support of the mccormick stillman railroad park were completed in the amount of $2,314,185 - see schedule I, statement 1 for more details.
$2,387,036 spentof which $2,314,185 as grants$2,233 earned by the program94% of program spendingThe society continues to cover the cost of the entrance fee to the model railroad building by covering the city employee staffing costs. This allows the public to enjoy the building and its amenities at no charge.
$78,194 spent3% of program spendingThe society continues to assist with the cost of various upgrades, repairs, and maintenance to the park, park buildings, plus park and society equipment. In 2025, the following major projects were completed: carousel repairs - new crankshafts and replacement parts
$36,572 spent1% of program spendingThe society continues to assist model railroad clubs housed in the model railroad building by funding train repair and replacement grants for $3,000 per year per club, five clubs in 2025. Other grants to the clubs were completed in the amount of $10,000 - see schedule I, statement 1 for more details.
$25,000 spentof which $10,000 as grants1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,526,802.
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 2024 to 2025, from $5.9M to $3.6M (−39%).
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.
312% of SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (78% for the typical peer).
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.
Board chair
William Scarbrough
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income rose $15k → $37k.
2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 83% 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 SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY’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
SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2019 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
83% of SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY'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 $21k that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $103k 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
SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY's revenue fell 80% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY
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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
99% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY: 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 SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY?
- SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY (Arizona) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $124,100 to it, the largest being ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($73,800). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $124,100 in grants to SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY?
- ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $73,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCOTTSDALE RAILROAD AND MECHANICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 7 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