Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
VENTURE OUTDOORS INC
VENTURE OUTDOORS INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,395,279 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,825,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 39
- Grants received
- $4.4M
- Net assets
- $998k
What Venture Outdoors Inc does
Mission
We remove barriers and create access to outdoor experiences. We are a pittsburgh-based non-profit connecting people to the benefits of getting outdoors. Since 2001, our team of outdoor educators and volunteer trip leaders have guided people of all ages (see sch o) and stages to hike, bike, run, paddle, geocache, and more. We believe that together we can remove the barriers that stop people from connecting to the outdoors. We serve the communities of western pennsylvania from children to young adults to seniors, individuals to families, and preschool classrooms to college programs to corporate teams. We focus on equity when we plan our programs. We evaluate and plan to support participants' access to green space, transportation needs, culture, skill level, ability, and interests.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Kayak pittsburgh operated three rental concessions on pittsburgh area waterways: at the james sharp marina in sharpsburg, the north park boathouse and a popup at steelers quay. Over 14,400 people rented kayaks, canoes, stand up paddle boards, and pedal boats to enjoy ourlocal waterways.
$520,268 spent$300,747 earned by the program34% of program spendingVenture outdoors provided approximately 700 custom programs to over 12,000 participants including schools, universities, summer programs, seniors, scouts, community groups and adaptive recreation users programs including hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, geocaching, snowshoeing, horseback riding and environmental education.
$621,433 spent$251,528 earned by the program40% of program spendingPublic outings were conducted with over 100 events and 1,100 participants, helping participants experience how being outdoors helps gain confidence while having fun in the outdoors. Programs included hiking, biking, urban walks, backpacking, paddling, snowshoeing, fishing, geocaching and film festival screenings.
$94,951 spent$21,210 earned by the program6% of program spendingAll other programs consist of venture outdoors again and corporate custom programming.
$312,543 spent$27,550 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,549,195.
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 $1.3M to $1.8M (+37%).
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 6% · 2022 8% · 2023 6% · 2024 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of VENTURE OUTDOORS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Chief executive
Andrews Ash
President and CEO
Board chair
Kelly Laura
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $25k → $1.0M.
5 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 VENTURE OUTDOORS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 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
VENTURE OUTDOORS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 98% · 2018 47% · 2019 73% · 2020 47% · 2021 66% · 2022 44% · 2023 45% — 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
42% of VENTURE OUTDOORS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% 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
99% of VENTURE OUTDOORS INC's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $167k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
VENTURE OUTDOORS INC's funding base is broadening — from 3 funders to 15 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like VENTURE OUTDOORS 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
51%
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 VENTURE OUTDOORS 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 VENTURE OUTDOORS INC?
- VENTURE OUTDOORS INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,395,279 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,825,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does VENTURE OUTDOORS INC have?
- IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $4,395,279 in grants to VENTURE OUTDOORS INC, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VENTURE OUTDOORS INC?
- RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,825,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VENTURE OUTDOORS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Venture Outdoors →
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 39 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