Funding search · EIN 566047886 · Charlotte, NC

Foundation for the Carolinas

Name: Foundation for the Carolinas grants, 2022–2024
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A grantmaking public charity (files IRS Form 990, Schedule I). Charities like this often run real grant programs with application cycles.

4,352
grants reported: $1.45B
total given: 2022–2024
filing years: $25,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

gift

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Environmental conservation, land trusts, climate and clean energy advocacy
Private colleges and HBCUs in North Carolina, especially Rowan County
Reproductive health, family planning and population organizations
Global humanitarian relief and disaster response
Charlotte arts, museums, libraries and civic institutions
Academic medical research and health systems, mainly Duke and Atrium

Typical grant

The median gift is $25,000 and half of everything falls between $10,000 and $90,402, so the ordinary check is small and local. A separate tier of seven- and eight-figure gifts goes to a short list of colleges, national environmental and reproductive health groups, and Duke medicine, and those come from individual donor-advised accounts rather than a common pool. With 4,352 grants to 2,362 recipients over three years, many organizations receive something in more than one year, usually at a similar size.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“CHARITABLE GIFT”
“Education Fund”
“Conservancy”
“Land Trust”
“Research and Policy Center”

Positioning adjacent work

Tie work to NC land conservation, clean energy, or Southern Appalachian and coastal ecosystems, their heaviest environmental themes.
Ask $25,000 to $100,000 for a first gift unless a specific donor advisor is already behind you.
Name a Charlotte, Mecklenburg, or Rowan County benefit; in-state recipients outnumber all others combined.
For health research, connect to their Duke Cancer Institute, Alzheimer's, and Atrium Health pattern rather than generic biomedical framing.

Worth knowing: This is a community foundation moving donor-advised money, so every grant description reads simply "CHARITABLE GIFT" and there is no thematic program behind the totals; the giant environmental, population, and democracy grants to DC, California, and Colorado groups almost certainly trace to one or two large advisors. The Salisbury cluster (Catawba, Livingstone, Rowan Helping Ministries, Rowan-Salisbury schools) points to another single donor, which means success here depends on finding the advisor, not on the institution.

3 grants matching “touchdown” · $41,100

$15,100
Charlotte Touchdown Club · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$10,000
Charlotte Touchdown Club · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$16,000
Charlotte Touchdown Club · Charlotte, NC · 2022
Charitable gift

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Catawba College3 grants · $110.6M
Southern Environmental Law Center3 grants · $82.4M
Rocky Mountain Institute3 grants · $46.6M
International Rescue Committee3 grants · $41.0M
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund3 grants · $38.1M
Nova Ukraine2 grants · $28.0M
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund3 grants · $26.2M
Duke University Medical Center3 grants · $26.0M
Atrium Health Foundation3 grants · $22.5M
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic3 grants · $21.8M

Giving over time

$318.5M

2022

$525.4M

2023

$609.1M

2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 4,352 grants.

$56.6M
Catawba College · Salisbury, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$34.0M
Catawba College · Salisbury, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$29.5M
Southern Environmental Law Center · Charlottesville, VA · 2023
Charitable gift
$26.5M
Southern Environmental Law Center · Charlottesville, VA · 2024
Charitable gift
$26.4M
Southern Environmental Law Center · Charlottesville, VA · 2022
Charitable gift
$24.2M
Rocky Mountain Institute · Basalt, CO · 2023
Charitable gift
$24.0M
International Rescue Committee · New York, NY · 2024
Charitable gift
$20.1M
Catawba College · Salisbury, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$20.0M
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$19.3M
Fftc Partners for Empowering Communities · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$17.0M
Duke University Medical Center · Durham, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$16.9M
International Rescue Committee · New York, NY · 2023
Charitable gift
$16.0M
Nova Ukraine · San Jose, CA · 2024
Charitable gift
$14.1M
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic · Raleigh, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$14.1M
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund · San Francisco, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$13.2M
Atrium Health Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$13.0M
Duke Cancer Institute · Durham, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$13.0M
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$12.3M
Rocky Mountain Institute · Basalt, CO · 2024
Charitable gift
$12.1M
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund · San Francisco, CA · 2022
Charitable gift
$12.0M
Nova Ukraine · San Jose, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$11.8M
Johnson C Smith University · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$11.5M
Unc Charlotte Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$11.3M
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy · Asheville, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$11.1M
Planned Parenthood Federation of America · New York, NY · 2024
Charitable gift
$10.5M
Community Foundation of Western North Carolina · Asheville, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$10.2M
Warren Wilson College · Asheville, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$10.2M
Rocky Mountain Institute · Basalt, CO · 2022
Charitable gift
$10.0M
Save the Children Federation · Fairfield, CT · 2024
Charitable gift
$9.4M
Tom Wathen Center · Jurupa Valley, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$9.0M
Natural Resources Defense Council · New York, NY · 2023
Charitable gift
$8.6M
Providence Day School · Charlotte, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$8.5M
Duke University Medical Center · Durham, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$8.5M
World Central Kitchen · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$8.5M
Livingstone College · Salisbury, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$8.1M
Atrium Health Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$8.0M
Population Connection · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$7.8M
California Institute of Technology · Pasadena, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$7.5M
Doctors Without Borders USA · Hagerstown, MD · 2023
Charitable gift
$7.4M
North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation · Raleigh, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$7.3M
Revive & Restore · Sausalito, CA · 2024
Charitable gift
$7.1M
North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$7.0M
Alzheimer'S Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc Nc · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.9M
Lees-McRae College · Banner Elk, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.3M
Central Piedmont Community College Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.1M
World Central Kitchen · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.0M
Imagine North Carolina First · Raleigh, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.0M
Duke Cancer Institute · Durham, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$6.0M
Natural Resources Defense Council · New York, NY · 2024
Charitable gift
$6.0M
Population Connection · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$5.9M
Conservation Fund · Arlington, VA · 2024
Charitable gift
$5.9M
Mint Museum · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$5.4M
Central Piedmont Community College Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.3M
Revive & Restore · Sausalito, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.3M
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.1M
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund · Washington, DC · 2022
Charitable gift
$5.1M
American Endowment Foundation · Hudson, OH · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.0M
Smithsonian Institution · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.0M
University of Wisconsin Foundation · Madison, WI · 2023
Charitable gift
$5.0M
Common Cause Education Fund · Raleigh, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$4.9M
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy · Asheville, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$4.6M
Unc Charlotte Foundation · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.3M
Catawba Lands Conservancy · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.1M
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy · Knoxville, TN · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Doctors Without Borders USA · Hagerstown, MD · 2024
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Myers Park United Methodist Church · Charlotte, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$4.0M
North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation · Raleigh, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Dkt International · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Environmental Working Group · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Guarantee Our Votes Project · Washington, DC · 2024
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Dkt International · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Environmental Working Group · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Population Institute · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Natural Resources Defense Council · New York, NY · 2022
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Population Connection · Washington, DC · 2022
Charitable gift
$4.0M
Duke University - Nicholas School of the Environment · Durham, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.8M
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Society · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.7M
Duke University - Nicholas School of the Environment · Durham, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.5M
Save the Children Federation · Washington, DC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.5M
Tom Wathen Center · Jurupa Valley, CA · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.4M
Community Real Property Holdings · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.3M
Foothills Community Foundation · Anderson, SC · 2022
Charitable gift
$3.2M
Myers Park Presbyterian Church · Charlotte, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.2M
Queens University of Charlotte · Charlotte, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.1M
Rowan Helping Ministries · Salisbury, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.1M
Treescharlotte · Davidson, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$3.1M
Environmental Defense Fund · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
National Parks Conservation Association · Washington, DC · 2022
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Woodwell Climate Research Center · Falmouth, MA · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Sierra Club Foundation · Oakland, CA · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Nc Warn · Durham, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.0M
North Carolina Conservation Network · Raleigh, NC · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.0M
William J Brennan Jr Center for Justice · New York, NY · 2024
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Imagine North Carolina First · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
North Carolina Conservation Network · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
North Carolina Voter Project · Raleigh, NC · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Population Media Center · South Burlington, VT · 2023
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Natural Resources Defense Council · New York, NY · 2022
Charitable gift
$3.0M
Arts & Science Council · Charlotte, NC · 2022
Charitable gift
$2.9M
Conservation Fund · Arlington, VA · 2023
Charitable gift

View all 4,352 grants →

Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.

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Source: IRS Form 990, Schedule I, as filed by this organization. These are grants already paid. Grants paid directly to individuals are reported to the IRS only as totals, so they do not appear as named lines here.