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Friends Group · National Park

Grand Canyon Conservancy

“Inspire generations of park champions to cherish and support the natural and cultural wonder of Grand Canyon.”

Home groundGrand Canyon, AZ
Founded1932
Tax status501(c)(3)
Led byElizabeth Silkes

Give to them ↗Every way to help ↓

The work

What they do

Official nonprofit partner of Grand Canyon National Park. Operates bookstores, funds park projects, education, trail maintenance, and research.

Where the money went, FY2025

The work, and what it cost

Aid to National Park Service program

$5.9M, 38% of spending

In 2025, gcc donated 6% of annual retail sales revenue to provide direct aid to NPS towards interpretive, educational, scientific, and historical projects.

Including $3,522,450 granted onward, all of it to National Park Service.

Read it as they filed it
AID TO NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PROGRAM - IN 2025, GCC DONATED 6% OF ANNUAL RETAIL SALES REVENUE TO PROVIDE DIRECT AID TO NPS TOWARDS INTERPRETIVE, EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND HISTORICAL PROJECTS. THIS FUNDING SUPPORTED 265 DAYS OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL DEMONSTRATIONS BY 107 DEMONSTRATORS. ADDITIONALLY, 22 INDIGENOUS CULTURAL PERFORMANCES WERE HELD BY MEMBERS FROM DIN (NAVAJO), HAVASUPAI, HUALAPAI, HOPI, ZUNI, AND WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE TRIBES, AND REACHED 4,757 VISITORS. FURTHER, 42 RANGER-LED FIELD TRIPS FOR 1,008 STUDENTS IN GATEWAY COMMUNITIES, PARTICULARLY TRIBAL AND TITLE I SCHOOLS, WERE HOSTED AT THE SOUTH RIM, CONNECTING THE YOUTH TO THE CANYON'S CULTURAL AND NATURAL WONDERS. GCC DIRECT AID FUNDING WAS ALSO UTILIZED TO COLLECT 1,281 SQUARE MILES OF LIDAR DATA IN GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, WHICH WAS USED TO IDENTIFY POSSIBLE GROUNDWATER FLOW PATHS, SPRINGS, AND SHALLOW GROUNDWATER ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE. GCC ALSO RAISED FUNDS TO SUPPORT NPS PRIORITY PROJECTS AND EMERGING NEEDS. FOLLOWING THE DRAGON BRAVO FIRE THAT LEFT DEVASTATING IMPACTS ON THE NORTH RIM, GCC COLLECTED DONATIONS AND FUNDED RECOVERY EFFORTS INCLUDING RESOURCES AND SUPPORT FOR EVACUEES, THE DEMOLITION AND REMOVAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FROM THE FORMER NORTH RIM VISITOR CENTER, SUPPORT FOR CRITICAL POST-FIRE SCIENCE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS DURING THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, AND CLEANING AND REMEDIATION OF 45 NPS FACILITIES, RESIDENTIAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDINGS. WITH SUPPORT FROM GCC, NPS ALSO COMPLETED THE SECOND ROUND OF ITS DYE TRACING STUDY. DYES WERE INJECTED INTO TWO SINKHOLES, WHILE 43 SPRINGS AND STREAM SITES WERE MONITORED OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD. THIS WORK ACCOUNTED FOR 858 NPS STAFF FIELD DAYS AND IS ALREADY IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF GROUNDWATER FLOW, DRINKING WATER PROTECTION, AND WILDFIRE IMPACTS. UNDERSTANDING WHERE WATER FLOWS TODAY HELPS PROTECT THE CANYON TOMORROW. GCC FUNDING ALSO ENABLED PREVENTIVE SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS, AND IN 2025, TRAIL PATROL TEAMS LOGGED 2,583 HOURS, ASSISTED 444 HIKERS, MADE 97,749 GENERAL CONTACTS, AND TOOK 18,400 PREVENTIVE ACTIONS TO HELP VISITORS MAKE SAFER CHOICES BEFORE EMERGENCIES OCCURRED. GCC SUPPORT ALSO ADVANCED CRITICAL TRAIL WORK INCLUDING REPAIRS TO A WASHED-OUT SECTION OF THE BRIGHT ANGEL TRAIL, THE INSTALLATION OF LOG BENCHES ON THE SOUTH RIM TO SUPPORT RANGER TALKS, AND MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS TO OVER 30 MILES OF GREENWAY TRAILS ALONG THE SOUTH RIM.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.

Interpretive Sales Programs

$2.8M, 18% of spending

Interpretive sales revenue supports Grand Canyon’s educational mission by enhancing visitors’ experiences.

Including $9,251 granted onward.

Read it as they filed it
INTERPRETIVE SALES PROGRAM - INTERPRETIVE SALES REVENUE SUPPORTS GRAND CANYON'S EDUCATIONAL MISSION BY ENHANCING VISITORS' EXPERIENCES. STAFF PROVIDE VISITORS WITH INFORMATION ABOUT GRAND CANYON 7 DAYS A WEEK, INCLUDING FACILITATING OVER 25,000 NEW JUNIOR RANGER CERTIFICATIONS EACH YEAR. BEYOND IN-PARK INTERPRETIVE SALES, GCC OPERATES PUBLISHING, WHOLESALE, AND E-COMMERCE BUSINESSES THAT EXTEND ITS REACH BEYOND GRAND CANYON PARK BOUNDARIES. THE GCC PUBLICATIONS CATALOG INCLUDES OVER 50 PUBLICATIONS AND PROVIDES EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ON A WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS RELATED TO THE GRAND CANYON AND THE COLORADO PLATEAU. IN 2025, INTERPRETIVE SALES OPERATED 6 STORES, INCLUDING 5 SOUTH RIM LOCATIONS AND ONE SEASONAL LOCATION AT THE NORTH RIM VISITOR CENTER. GENERATING OVER 500,000 TRANSACTIONS. PRODUCTS SOLD EDUCATE VISITORS ON PARK PRIORITIES, INCLUDING GEOLOGY AND BIOLOGY, INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS, DARK SKIES, AND PARK HISTORY, DEEPENING VISITOR CONNECTION TO AND UNDERSTAND OF GRAND CANYON'S CULTURAL AND NATURAL HISTORY. ACROSS THOSE 6 LOCATIONS, 11,000 NEW GCC SUPPORTER-MEMBERS WERE RECRUITED. THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS HELP TO FUND GCC'S PRIORITY INITIATIVES FOCUSED ON EDUCATION AND INTERPRETIVE THEMES (E.G., INDIGENOUS CULTURAL PROGRAMMING, DARK SKIES AWARENESS, HIKE SMART EDUCATION, AND PRESERVATION OF THE RESOURCE).

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.

Visitor and Community Services Programs

$908K, 6% of spending

Residency: in 2025, the residency program delivered significant impacts through its two tracks; artists and astronomers in residency.

Including $29,893 granted onward.

Read it as they filed it
VISITOR AND COMMUNITY SERVICES PROGRAM - RESIDENCY: IN 2025, THE RESIDENCY PROGRAM DELIVERED SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS THROUGH ITS TWO TRACKS; ARTISTS AND ASTRONOMERS IN RESIDENCY. NEW AND ALUMNI ARTISTS AND ASTRONOMERS IN RESIDENCE DELIVERED OVER 80 PROGRAMS TO APPROXIMATELY 15,000 VISITORS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS, DOUBLING ITS VISITOR REACH AND IMPACT FROM 2024. ASTRONOMERS TRANSFORMED MOMENTS OF AWE AND WONDER INTO DEEPER UNDERSTANDING BY PAIRING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WITH PUBLIC EDUCATION THROUGH FREE PROGRAMS THAT TAUGHT GUESTS, GRAND CANYON STUDENTS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS MORE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF DARK SKIES. ARTISTS CREATED FREE PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS THAT REPRESENTED VISITORS' EXPERIENCES WITH THE CANYON WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY TEACHING PEOPLE ABOUT THE CANYON'S INCREDIBLE BIODIVERSITY, GEOLOGY, AND HISTORY WITH WORKSHOPS IN WEAVING AND MAPMAKING, AND ARTWORK CREATED FROM GUEST INTERVIEWS, MUSEUM ARCHIVES, AND OBSERVATION. THE PROGRAM ALSO SUPPORTED THE RETURN OF ALUMNI ASTRONOMER IN RESIDENCE STEPHEN HUMMEL TO COMPLETE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE NIGHT-SKY QUALITY STUDY SINCE 2015, PROVIDING NPS WITH CRITICAL DATA TO MITIGATE LIGHT POLLUTION AND PROTECT ITS DARK SKIES. FIELD INSTITUTE: GCCFI COMPLETED 194 TRIPS IN 2025, ENGAGING OVER 2,000 PARTICIPANTS IN 8,138 EDUCATIONAL HOURS. PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED IN VARIOUS ACTIVITIES ABOVE AND BELOW THE RIM, FROM MULTIDAY BACKPACKING TRIPS INTO THE CANYON TO SUNSET PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES AND HISTORIC VILLAGE TOURS ALONG THE RIM.COMMUNITY EVENTS: GCC RESPONDED TO COMMUNITY NEEDS FOLLOWING THE DRAGON BRAVO FIRE, THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, AND MULTIPLE WATER RESTRICTIONS THAT CLOSED HOTEL CONCESSIONERS BY LAUNCHING COMMUNITY EVENTS TO BUILD CONNECTION AND RESILIENCY AMONG GRAND CANYON AND TUSAYAN RESIDENTS. GCC OFFERED 13 FREE COMMUNITY MEALS, A FALL FESTIVAL, AND A HOLIDAY MOVIE NIGHT SERVING 4,500 SOUTH RIM AND TUSAYAN COMMUNITY MEMBERS.

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.

Follow the dollar

61 cents of every dollar goes to the work

61¢
61¢ the work15¢ keeping the lights on24¢ raising the next dollar

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.

$9,532,985 programs, $2,333,467 management, $3,640,294 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.

The people

Who does the work

179paid staff
18volunteers last year
18board members
Elizabeth SilkesCEO/Executive DirectorComp $300,786, FY2025
Bonnie BakerChief Philanthropy OfficerComp $185,235, FY2025
Minyin HartCFOComp $169,281, FY2025
Randall BrownBoard ChairVolunteer, 2 hrs a week, $0

Chairs the 18-member board.

Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. The FY2025 filing lists two people as executive director, Elizabeth Silkes and Susan Huhn as interim, usually a handover inside the year. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Grand Canyon Conservancy? Claim this page.

Those 18 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Grand Canyon Conservancy is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.

Find your way in

The filings

13 years of filings

Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.

$10M$17.9M FY2520112025
Total revenue by fiscal year
YearRevenue
2011$5,211,557
2012$5,539,624
2013$6,714,500
2014$6,414,336
2016$9,700,829
2017$11,073,536
2018$11,262,648
2019$12,284,416
2020$6,860,049
2021$15,719,134
2022$13,002,094
2023$14,193,765
2025$17,918,741

From $5.2M in 2011 to $17.9M in FY25, across 13 public filings (none on record for 2015 and 2024).

Stand with the Grand Canyon Conservancy

The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.

Sources and methodFinancials, headcounts, and program text: IRS Form 990, FY2025 and 12 prior filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 86-0179548. Leadership and compensation: Form 990 Part VII and the return’s signature block, FY2025 filing. Grantees: Schedule I, same filing. Org-reported figures are always labeled. Data verified as of 2026-09-23. Nothing on this page is pay-to-play.