· Public charity
Charlotte Sports Foundation
The Charlotte Sports Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization created in 2013 to provide leadership for sports-based initiatives that enhance the economy and quality of life in the Charlotte region.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2025
- $50k–250k3 grants · $500k
- $250k+6 grants · $7.8M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Virginia Tech University | $2,600,000 |
| University of Minnesota | $2,450,000 |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | $1,851,140 |
| University of Oklahoma | $300,000 |
| University of Michigan | $291,685 |
| University of Florida | $283,371 |
| University of Iowa | $200,000 |
| NC State Treasurer | $150,000 |
| University of South Carolina | $150,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +98% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.
10 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.5M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- ACATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE9× · 2017–2025 · $28M · revenue +98%
- SCSOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE4× · 2017–2022 · $9.2M · revenue +71%
- NSNC STATE UNIVERSITY3× · 2018–2025 · $3.3M
Funded once
- CUCLEMSON UNIVERSITY2× · 2018–2022 · $5.0M
- UOUNIVERSITY OF GEORGIAone grant, 2022 · $5.0M
- UOUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIAone grant, 2020 · $2.5M
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
The conference is committed to providing quality athletics competition integral to and consistent with its member institutions' academic missions. the conference is dedicated to providing opportunities for student-athletes to achieve their…
The mission of the NECC is to provide for athletic competition among institutions that share similar academic aspirations and are committed to the importance of the total educational experience for students engaged in sports.The NECC…
The conference is committed to providing student-athletes an exemplary university experience - both on and off the field of play. with high standards of integrity at the core of our athletic and academic excellences, our goal is to unlock…
The organization operates an inter-collegiate athletic conference in 23 college sports for 12 member and 2 associate member schools. The 12 member schools are Allegheny College, Bethany College, Chatham University, Franciscan University,…
The american conference's mission is to provide students with the highest quality education and level of competition. working together with a collective strength and spirit, our universities are committed to our students' health and…
As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…
The midwest conference is an interstate league among similarly minded institutions - those which give primary attention to the educational purposes of athletics. member institutions believe that participation in sport enhances the…
Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…
Benedictine college's mission as a catholic, benedictine, liberal arts, residential college is the education of men and women within a community of faith & scholarship.
To facilitate intercollegiate athletics competition for both men and women, promote a proper balance between academics and athletics, foster integrity and excellence in both athletics and academics, foster competitive amateur opportunities…
The mission of the conference is to enhance intercollegiate competition among its member institutions and to focus on the welfare of the student athlete. the conference and its members are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of…
Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…
How this is measured
8 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 8 of the 26 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: National Collegiate Athletic Association · Folds of Honor Foundation · Tulsa Community Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Charlotte Sports Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charlotte Sports Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Charlotte Sports’ filings →