Oklahoma · Nonprofit
WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (Oklahoma) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,239 to it, the largest being The Priddy Foundation ($486,349). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $399k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $547k
- Net assets
- $823k
What Western Trail Historical Society Inc does
Mission
The Western Trail Historical Society seeks to enable the Museum of the Western Prairie to be a driving force in the cultural life and economic development of our community by producing art exhibitions, concerts, and historical programs to enrich the intellectual and cultural lives of the residents of Southwest Oklahoma.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Each year our programming is updated to reflect the desires of our membership. However, the process for our high quality programming stays the same. We change the content, presenter, and venue based on the desires and requests of our members.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Our robust programming and exhibit schedule is continually adjusted and refined to address community needs and wishes. Our programs bring talented performers and knowledgeable experts to our community to augment the talent and expertise in our community thereby increasing the impact of the programming by broadening the experience and knowledge of our community members. In essence, we provide programs that can only be experienced here, and we also endeavor to provide programs that are enjoyed in larger, better-served communities so that our local audiences will have the opportunity to experience the best offerings of their home community as well as the caliber of programs enjoyed in larger, better-served communities.
$52,981 spentof which $40,000 as grants16% of program spendingIn an effort to enhance our educational programming and companion exhibits with stories and items drawn from the museums collection, including artifacts, photographs, and resource, materials, we have undertaken a multi-year project to revamp the museums collection database and improve the care and storage of the collection. This project requires time from staff and volunteers as well as archival quality materials and scanners.
$39,996 spentof which $12,000 as grants12% of program spendingWe support the Museum of the Western Prairie to ensure that it is an integral part of life in Southwest Oklahoma. With the exception of the utilities, we cover all other museum-related costs each month ranging from light bulbs to lawn services to routine maintenance of the interior and exterior.
$55,337 spent17% of program spendingThese expenditures were in support of museum operations to assist the Oklahoma Historical Society in running maintaining the Museum of the Western Prairie.
$181,679 spent55% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $329,993.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $660k to $768k (+16%).
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 9% · 2022 14% · 2023 7% · 2024 13% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
Dennis Vernon
President of the Board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $60k → $40k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC’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
WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 99%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 92% · 2021 100% · 2022 67% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Oklahoma, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $16k 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.
Government funding WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $575 on record.
- Pmts-Local Gov't-Gen Govt$575
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 WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 Oklahoma
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (Oklahoma) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $547,239 to it, the largest being The Priddy Foundation ($486,349). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $547,239 in grants to WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- The Priddy Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $486,349 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WESTERN TRAIL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oklahoma. 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 5 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