Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 1986.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
76 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
27 people listed on the 990; $1.2M paid to officers and key staff.
Ryan Chao’s $318K as President is at the 69th percentile of top reported officer pay among 324 $10–100M environment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Chao | $318,418 | $308,721 | $299,230 | $304,332 | $292,422 | $253,823 |
| Cynthia Dickerson | $211,807 | $204,743 | $190,625 | $191,224 | $177,409 | $172,701 |
| Kevin Mills | $188,141 | $182,418 | $177,321 | $182,462 | $162,106 | $158,179 |
| Frederick Schaedtler | $185,132 | $178,006 | $155,207 | $146,978 | $119,956 | — |
| Elizabeth Thorstensen | $175,519 | $152,138 | $181,094 | $181,655 | $168,221 | $162,885 |
| Brandi Horton | $179,969 | $174,375 | $167,697 | $177,432 | $150,501 | $122,950 |
| Alisa Borland | $175,164 | $178,325 | $174,963 | $176,029 | $160,661 | $116,824 |
| Marianne Fowler | — | — | — | — | — | $114,824 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Advocates for and protects public funding and policies to build and maintain trails for walking and bicycling nationwide.
Questions for Rails to Trails Conservancy
Your first name shows with your question. Rails to Trails Conservancy answers here, for everyone.
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Trail Development
Since its inception, RTC has supported trail building through a variety of strategic initiatives: managing an early warning system that notifies communities, state and local agencies of upcoming railway abandonments; creating statewide trail inventories and development plans; providing technical assistance for local trail development and…
Public Information/Events
While the benefits of trail use are far-reaching, not everyone knows how to access trails. RTC'S flagship initiative, TRAILLINK.COM provides access to 4,500 trails representing 40,000 miles. Trail use surged in FY20 as the country turned to trails during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trail Policy
RTC'S policy and advocacy work ensures public investment in rail-trails at all levels of government, focusing on opportunities to support communities in building critical trail, biking and walking infrastructure.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
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| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.7M | $3.6M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $6.8M | $7.0M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $164K | $116K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $11.1M | $12.7M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.4M | $3.3M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $9.7M | $9.5M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $1.5M | $1.5M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $543K | $314K | $143K | $86K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $3.6M | $3.0M | $228K | $423K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $195K | $158K | $8K | $29K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $463K | $369K | $24K | $70K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $320K | $237K | $27K | $55K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $42K | $42K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $25K | $25K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $47K | $47K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $101K | $101K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $26K | $26K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $991K | $773K | $92K | $126K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $220K | $205K | $4K | $11K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $1.3M | $752K | $164K | $425K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $254K | $170K | $19K | $66K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $514K | $423K | $40K | $51K |
| TravelLn 17 | $94K | $56K | $23K | $15K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $30K | $8K | $22K | $80 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $62K | $48K | $7K | $7K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $32K | $25K | $3K | $4K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $454K | $217K | $12K | $225K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $8K | $381 | $83 | $7K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $10.9M | $8.3M | $866K | $1.7M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $13.3M | $14.1M | −$842K | $16.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $14.7M | $14.0M | $751K | $16.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $11.7M | $13.0M | −$1.2M | $14.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $14.5M | $12.1M | $2.4M | $14.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $14.6M | $11.0M | $3.6M | $13.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $10.5M | $10.9M | −$425K | $9.5M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $10,479,494 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $10,479,494 across 12 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $10,904,803 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $12,735,787 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $9,482,764 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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