Sacred Sites Research Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Protect North American Indian sacred sites.
- Income
- $245,692
- Spending
- $85,346
- Spent on programs
- 100%
- Reserves
- 59.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 98%
- Employees
- 0
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 95 out of 100. Higher than 84% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 59.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 65% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 5% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 15100% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 81 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (2)
- $85,003 spent. Identify, protect, and preserve North American Indian sacred sites. Despite experiencing a considerable delay due to the US Government shutdown, Sacred Sites Research, Inc. (SSR) had a successful year. Below is a summary of our key accomplishments. An important change in SSR board membership is that Julie Francis and Mary Hopkins agreed to serve on the board. They replace Carolyn McClellan and Bonita Newman. We thank Carolyn and Bonita for their service and welcome Julie and Mary. A key task was undertaken on the Carlsbad project, now in its third year with SSR and Versar, Inc. The task was to revisit a half-dozen sites in Lincoln National Forest to collect information that was missing from the initial recording in 2024. Although we then planned to start recording major sites in Carlsbad National Park, we are unable to access the park in the government shutdown. Fortunately, however, Guadalupe National Park was partially open, and we were able to reach and record eight sites in that park. So, while we planned but failed to get to 10 to 12 sites in Carlsbad National Park, we did get to 8 sites in Guadalupe National Park. Most of the year was spent finalizing panel drawings and writing the reports for the sites where fieldwork is already completed. Some of these are from large sites like Last Chance Canyon with 38 panels while others are small with a single panel like White Oaks Spring. Once panel drawings are complete the descriptions are finished and draft copies of the site write-ups are sent in for editorial review and preparation for publication. SSR taught a workshop for the American Rock Art Research Association in Visalia, California. Laurie White, Karen Steelman and Lawrence Loendorf were the instructors for the workshop, which was well attended with 25 participants. Carl Davis and Sara Scott were recipients of a SSR award to record an important rock art site south of Dillon, Montana. Mark Willis was a major participant in that project where the final panel drawings were completed by Daivd Kaiser. Davis and Scott are in the process of completing the site description and preparing the final report. A notable accomplishment was the publication of a book titled Ten Steps for Recording Pictograph and Petroglyph Sites: Methods and Technologies. Written by Nancy Stone and Lawrence Loendorf, the book was published by University of Utah Press. In another effort, Lawrence Loendorf and Marvin Rowe travelled from New Mexico to Pueblo, Colorado to collect a sample of the paint on a pictograph that is part of a display in the Pueblo Museum. We then transferred the sample to Karen Steelman who processed it for a plasma oxidation date. A list of published works and presentations by board members is below: (Listed by lead authors) Publications Board members highlighted Loendorf, Lawrence, Karen Steelman and Carolynne Merrell 2025 New Radiocarbon Ages for the Painted Coulee and Spring Gulch Pictograph Sites. Archaeology in Montana 36(1):35-49. Loendorf, Lawrence, Julie E. Francis, William Eckerle, Spencer Pelton and Mark Willis 2024 The Wold Rock Art District, Wyoming(48JO4513): Geoarchaeology, changing landscapes and estimating ages of rock art. Plains Anthropologist 69(270):102-127. Neely, James, Blas Castellon-Huerta, Samuel Wilson, Mark Willis and Chester Walker The Scorpion Mound Complex: An Effigy Mound Site with Possible Functional/Ceremonial Significance in the Tehuacn Valley of Puebla, Mxico. August 2025. Ancient Mesoamerica. DOI: 10.1017/S0956536125000070. Mark D. Willis and Satoru Murata LiDAR Mapping of Areas in the Vicinity of Biscayne and Rock Stone Pond. Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2024 Field Season. Marieka Brouwer Burg and Eleanor Harrison-Buck, Editors. Occasional Paper, No. 13. Department of Anthropology University of New Hampshire Report submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize 2025 Koenig, Charles W., Amanda M. Castaeda, Mark D. Willis, and Myles R. Miller Rock Imagery Survey of North Mountain at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site, El Paso County, Texas. Versar Cultural Resources Report No. 942.1EP. Texas Antiquities Permit 31975. Presentations and other SSR related endeavors Lawrence Loendorf 2025 Pictograph Scenes that Compare to Tabira Black and White Pottery. Paper delivered at the Society for American Archaeology, Denver, CO. 2025 Pictographs, Petroglyphs, Pots and Shield-bearing Warriors. PowerPoint presentation for the Albuquerque Archaeological Society, Albuquerque, NM. 2025 Shields and Shield-bearing Warrior Motif Pictographs and Petroglyphs. PowerPoint presentation, Pueblo History Museum, Pueblo, CO. Laurie White 2025 Recording Petroglyphs and Pictographs. Northern Colorado Archeological Society, 2025 Recording Petroglyphs and Pictographs. Professional Artists Group Presentation, via Zoom Laurie White and Lawrence Loendorf 2025 Guadalupe Pictographs: Descriptions and Possible Uses by Ancient Hunters. American Rock Art Research Association. Annual Meeting, Visalia, CA. Julie Francis 2025 Led tours of the Legend Rock State Petroglyph site for the Meeteetse Museum. 2025 Guided Ann Stephens to a successful defense of her thesis which was based on a spatial analysis of the rock art in the Bighorn Basin and her MA degree at the University of Wyoming.
- Mark Willis 2025 Digital Approaches to Rock Art Research: Innovations and Applications (World Archaeology Conference, Darwin, Australia) Mark helped organize and presented a paper at this conference. Amanda Castaneda, Charles W. Koenig, Mark D. Willis, and Myles R. Miller 2025 Summary of Phase 1 Rock Imagery Survey at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site. Paper presented at the 96th Annual Texas Archeological Society Meeting, McAllen, Texas. Amanda Castaneda, Charles W. Koenig, Mark D. Willis, and Myles R. Miller Summary of Phase 1 Rock Imagery Survey at Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site. Paper presented at the 24th Biennial Jornada Conference, El Paso, Texas Workshops Amanda Castaneda was one of the instructors for the Ethnobotany Academy hosted by the Texas Archeological Society in April 2025. Taught cordage making using native plants.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since February 2011.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.