American Alpine Club
“Support the climbing community through conservation, education, and exploration.”
The work
What they do
Climbing organization with conservation policy arm. Works on climbing access, wilderness protections, and fixed anchor policy on federal lands.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “TO SUPPORT A UNITED COMMUNITY OF COMPETENT CLIMBERS AND HEALTHY CLIMBING LANDSCAPES.”
Where the money went, FY2024
The work, and what it cost
Community Resources
$3.1MTHE AAC SUPPORTS THE CLIMBING COMMUNITY. THE ORGANIZATION PROVIDES GRANTS FOR CLIMBERS, HELPING MEMBERS CLIMB BEYOND THEIR HOME AREA.
Read it as they filed it
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 12,500 IN RESCUE BENEFITS. IN ADDITION, THE AAC HOSTS LOCAL AND NATIONAL EVENTS TO BUILD COMMUNITY AMONG CLIMBERS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Community Resources
$782KTHE AAC SUPPORTS THE CLIMBING COMMUNITY. THE ORGANIZATION PROVIDES GRANTS FOR CLIMBERS, HELPING MEMBERS CLIMB BEYOND THEIR HOME AREA.
Including $81,484 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
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 12,500 IN RESCUE BENEFITS. IN ADDITION, THE AAC HOSTS LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS TO BUILD COMMUNITY AMONG CLIMBERS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
The work as filed
$266KTHROUGH THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL, DISTRIBUTED IN HARD COPY SINCE 1929 AND NOW ALSO ON-LINE, THE AAC RECORDS NEW CLIMBS AND CLIMBING ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Read it as they filed it
THROUGH 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.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Pressing the policymakers
$2KCONSERVATION & 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.
Including $2,350 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
CONSERVATION & 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.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2024, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
76 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
Backed on the record by REI Cooperative Action Fund, latest filing FY24.
$4,166,174 programs, $913,693 management, $401,151 fundraising. Form 990, FY2024.
The people
Who does the work
Succeeds Nina Williams in the officer table.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. This one caught a changing of the guard in the act: the FY2024 officer table lists Nina Williams, the return itself is signed by Benjamin Gabriel. Orgs that claim their page can update it same-day. Work at AAC? Claim this page.
Those 500 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If AAC is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Make it 501The filings
14 years of filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,575,768 |
| 2012 | $3,582,118 |
| 2013 | $2,560,352 |
| 2014 | $3,309,079 |
| 2015 | $3,006,839 |
| 2016 | $2,811,120 |
| 2017 | $3,490,266 |
| 2018 | $3,795,518 |
| 2019 | $3,935,014 |
| 2020 | $4,244,737 |
| 2021 | $5,208,382 |
| 2022 | $5,046,816 |
| 2023 | $4,961,774 |
| 2024 | $7,914,945 |
From $1.6M in 2011 to $7.9M in FY24, with no missed filing in 14 years. The 2024 peak of $7.9M reads like one-time gifts, so trust the line, not the peak.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (2 shared cases), California Wilderness Coalition (1 shared case), Earthjustice (1 shared case), Environment America (1 shared case) and Friends of the Earth (1 shared case) and 8 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
Ways in
How to help
76 cents of your dollar goes straight to the work above.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with American Alpine Club
124 years on the ground, 500 volunteers, 76 cents of every dollar on the line. That is who is holding it. There is room for one more.