Colorado · Nonprofit
THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB
THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB (Colorado) receives grants from 66 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,375,946 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($430,252). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.5M
- Funders on record
- 66
- Grants received
- $2.4M
- Net assets
- $9.1M
What The American Alpine Club does
Mission
To share and support our passion for climbing information, knowledge, & resources that benefit and inspire future generations, advocate for & lead climbing interests, promote conservation, & foster community & competency.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Community resources: the aac supports the climbing community. The organization provides grants for climbers, helping members climb beyond their home area. Also, the aac operates several campgrounds for climbers, including the grand teton climbers' ranch in grand teton national park, wy., as well as campgrounds in new york, texas, west virginia, and new hampshire. The aac also supports members by providing up to 300,000 in rescue benefits. In addition, the aac hosts local, national and international events to build community among climbers.
$743,416 spentof which $142,493 as grants18% of program spendingThrough the american alpine journal, distributed in hard copy since 1929 and now also on-line, the aac records new climbs and climbing accomplishments. The aac's library in golden, colorado is one of the world's largest climbing libraries, including books, guidebooks, maps, dvds, and other resources.
$400,062 spent10% of program spendingConservation & advocacy resources: protecting the places we climb has been central to the aac and has been since the club's inception more than a century ago. Aac projects can be found throughout the world. The aac is also active internationally, including initiatives in asia and south america.
$2,288 spentof which $2,288 as grants0% of program spendingCommunity resources: the aac supports the climbing community. The organization provides grants for climbers, helping members climb beyond their home area. Also, the aac operates several campgrounds for climbers, including the grand teton climbers' ranch in grand teton national park, wy., as well as campgrounds in new york, texas, west virginia, and new hampshire. The aac also supports members by providing up to 300,000 in rescue benefits. In addition, the aac hosts local and national events to build community among climbers.
$2,926,744 spent72% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,072,510.
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 2023 to 2024, from $7.7M to $11M (+38%).
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 7% · 2022 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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 10 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $75k → $486k.
20 of 66 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 66 funders by total. 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
THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
57% 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 THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 33% · 2019 28% · 2020 18% · 2021 27% · 2022 22% · 2023 29% — 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
44% of THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
56% of THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB'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 $1.0M that is directly attributable, 91% of it comes from funders outside Colorado, across 20 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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.
Organizations like THE AMERICAN ALPINE 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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE AMERICAN ALPINE 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 THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB?
- THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB (Colorado) receives grants from 66 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,375,946 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($430,252). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB have?
- IRS filings report 66 organizations giving $2,375,946 in grants to THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $430,252 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 66 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