The Park People
Denver, Colorado, United States · Nonprofit · Local · since 1969
Denver nonprofit providing free and low-cost trees through Denver Digs Trees and improving city parks since 1969
About
The Park People is a Denver 501(c)(3) founded in 1969 that works with communities to plant trees and improve parks. Its Denver Digs Trees program, running for over 40 years, provides free and low-cost street and yard trees to Denver residents each spring and fall ($15 in low-canopy neighborhoods, $50 elsewhere, free with a Treeship application), with volunteers inspecting sites and planting for residents with limited mobility. It also runs Mile High Tree Champions corporate plantings in parks and at schools and affordable housing, the Community Forester workshop series, the TreeForce urban forestry pre-apprenticeship, and Park Legacy tribute trees, and has completed more than 50 capital projects in Denver parks.
What they run
Free and low-cost trees for Denver homes, businesses, nonprofits and schools: street trees in spring and yard trees in spring and fall, with applications in January-February and August, site inspections, permitting help, pickup days and planting workshops.
Sponsored group tree plantings and stewardship events for companies and organizations at Denver parks, schools, hospitals and affordable housing, in partnership with Denver Parks and Recreation.
Five-part classroom and field workshop series held in Denver parks; taking two or more earns Tree Steward status and all five the Community Forester title, supporting local tree teams.
Workforce development pre-apprenticeship preparing people facing barriers to employment for careers in urban forestry; cohort 8 graduated in spring 2026.
Tribute trees and pavers placed in Denver parks in honor or memory of individuals.
Trees by type of work
| Activity | Trees | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 🎁 Tree adoption & giveaways | 65,000 | 2026 |
Only figures attached to a named program count here. Organization-wide totals sit in the table below.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds raised (USD) | 2025 | 3,750,843 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 84-6045624: total revenue $3,750,843 and total expenses $2,032,403 for the fiscal year ending June 2025 (Form 990) |
| Trees plantedto date | 2025 | 65,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceIRS Form 990 TY2024 (fiscal year ending June 30, 2025), Part III: 'More than 65,000 trees have been planted through ongoing programs including Denver Digs Trees, Mile High Tree Champions, and the Park Legacy Program' |
| Trees plantedto date | 2026 | 70,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceHomepage: 'Since 1969 we've engaged residents and partners to plant over 70,000 trees and improve more than 50 parks' (accessed Nov 2026) |
| Trees distributed | 2026 | 1,200 | Denver Digs Trees | Self-reported | sourceThe Park People May 2026 e-newsletter (archived on the City of Denver Google Group): 'This spring, we distributed 1,200 trees to our community members through our Denver Digs Trees program'; over 800 households applied, 60% of trees went to low-canopy neighborhoods, over 200 volunteers inspected sites and planted 172 trees for residents with physical limitations. Spring distribution only; the fall 2026 yard tree round is not included. |
| Trees distributedto date | 2026 | 65,000 | Denver Digs Trees | Self-reported | sourceAbout Us page: Denver Digs Trees has provided 'more than 65,000 free and low-cost' trees to residents citywide, having started with 50 affordable trees in the West Washington Park neighborhood (accessed Nov 2026) |
How they report
What earned it
- 5/20 Publishes annual tree figures: 1 year of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)
- 15/15 Figures are recent: Latest annual figure is for 2026
- 10/10 Every figure has a public source: 5 of 5 figures link to a source
- 15/15 Publishes financials or cost per tree: Revenue or cost-per-tree figure on record
- 0/15 Reports survival or monitoring: No survival or monitoring figure
- 0/10 Independently verified figure: All figures are the organization's own
- 10/10 Breaks figures down by program: Figures attached to named programs
- 0/5 Reports volunteers or events: No volunteer figures or events
- Latest annual figure
- 1,200 trees in 2026
- Compare
- Put The Park People next to others · method
Upcoming events
None listed here right now. Send us their calendar feed. Check their calendar.