Tennessee · Nonprofit
WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM (Tennessee) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $20,000 to it, the largest being THE RAIL HERITAGE TRUST FIRST OPTION BANK TRUSTEE ($20,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Against its field
WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,904 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,904 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- The Candelaria Fundshared fundersportfolio match
- Tom E Dailey Foundation Incshared fundersportfolio match
- Mountain States Health Alliancelocal
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.
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: 2023 4% · 2024 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income held at $10k.
From the IRS filings of WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM’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.
Where its funders are
WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Tennessee, across 1 state in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first.
- The Candelaria Fundshared fundersportfolio matchCA · backs 6 organizations that share your funders · its grantees resemble your mission
- Tom E Dailey Foundation Incshared fundersportfolio matchOH · backs 6 organizations that share your funders · its grantees resemble your mission
- Mountain States Health AlliancelocalTN · funds 26 organizations near you
- Jeffris Family Foundation Ltdportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The William G Pomeroy Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The West Virginia Humanities Council Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Preservation League of New York Stateportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Humanities Kansas Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Washington County Tourism Promotion Agencyportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Erie Canalway Heritage Fund Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Indiana Historical Societyportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Organizations like WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM
Nonprofits whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over the universe of US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM: 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. How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM?
- WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM (Tennessee) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $20,000 to it, the largest being THE RAIL HERITAGE TRUST FIRST OPTION BANK TRUSTEE ($20,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $20,000 in grants to WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM?
- THE RAIL HERITAGE TRUST FIRST OPTION BANK TRUSTEE is the largest funder on record, with $20,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WATAUGA VALLEY RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 1funders 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 August 27, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing