Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

Cornwell Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$185k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Education$289kHuman Services$156kHousing & Shelter$97kReligion$65kArts & Culture$55kPublic Safety & Disaster$53kRecreation & Sports$48kPhilanthropy$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $170k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAMARITAN'S PURSE FBO WESTERN NC RELIEF$40,000
DARLINGTON SCHOOL$25,000
CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY$20,000
MYERS PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL (KENAN-FLAGLER BUSINESS SCHOOL)$10,000
QUEENS UNIVERSITY CATO SCHOOL OF EDUCATION$10,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$10,000
ROOF ABOVE$10,000
SALVATION ARMY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL (ARTS AND SCIENCES FOUNDATION)$10,000
CHILDREN'S THEATRE$10,000
THE SHARON AT SOUTHPARK$5,000
MYERS PARK HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION$3,000
YOUNG BLACK LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE$3,000
THE HARVEST CENTER OF CHARLOTTE$2,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–25, $165k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 5% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $5k → 14%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: $20k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: $20k → 10%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: $10k → 10%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: $10k → 10%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING: $7k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $20k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $20k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $20k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $10k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $10k → 10%CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY: $10k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$772k · 20 repeat orgs$15k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +20% since the first grant, against -55% for the ones you funded once.

20 repeat relationships — 16 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
2

Total granted

$772k
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-55%

Still filing today

60%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyEnvironmentFood & NutritionOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • DS
    Darlington School Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $120k · revenue +32%
  • Crisis Assistance Ministry
    6× · 2020–2025 · $90k · revenue +12%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL H ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $48k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -55%
  • CC
    CHRIST CHURCH PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN
    one grant, 2023 · $5k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
For Charlotte Inc

To unite the Church to transform the city through the power of the Gospel.

Religion
2
UrbanPromise Charlotte

Provide Charlotte's low-income children and youth with the academic, spiritual, and social development necessary to become Christian leaders determined to restore their communities.

Youth Development
3
Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education. The organization is comprised of seven constituent parts: Wake…

Education
4
Nest Academy Inc

The Nest Academy is a trauma-informed, private K-12 school in Charlotte, North Carolina with a mission to change the lives of refugee and underprivileged students to become confident, educated, and successful first generation high school…

Education
5
Foundation of the University of North Carolina At Charlotte

The foundation of unc charlotte receives contributions to promote and develop the academic and educational purpose of unc charlotte by providing support for operations, educational programs, and scholarships for the university and its…

6
Charlotte Preparatory School Inc

Charlotte Preparatory School fosters lifelong learning and provides an exemplary educational experience founded on academic excellence, positive character, and leadership development in a diverse, inclusive community.

Education
7
GardHouse Limited

Charlottes leading workforce development program for college students providing paid internships, career coaching and professional development.

Human Services
8
Humane Society of Charlotte Inc

Humane Society of Charlotte mission is to champion the wellbeing of companion animals and strengthen their bond with the people who know, love, and need them.

Animals
9
The Charlotte Center for the Humanities Inc

The mission of The Charlotte Center is to help our community flourish. We accomplish our mission by bringing people together to explore community life together through the lens of the humanities and civic imagination.

Human Services
10
Charlotte Christian School

Charlotte christian school is a christ-centered, college preparatory school, equipping and developing students to effectively integrate biblical truth and learning nto their daily lives and to impact the culture for christ.

11
Communities in Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Inc

The mission of Communities In Schools is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

Education
12
Charlotte Regional Realtor Association Inc

The charlotte regional realtor (r) association (crra) is a trade association serving members in mecklenburg, iredell and haywood counties. at december 31, 2024, crra had 14,020 members.

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Charlotte Family Housing and the most unlike its peers is Young Black Leadership Alliance. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

04the grantee network

13 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 22 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MYERS PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH — $65,000 · OtherMYERS PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCHSALVATION ARMY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE — $50,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMY OF GREATER CHARLOTTEUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL (KENAN-FLAGLER BUSINESS SCHOOL) — $48,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL (KEN…SAMARITAN'S PURSE FBO WESTERN NC RELIEF — $45,000 · OtherSAMARITAN'S PURSE FBO WESTERN NC RELIEFCHILDREN'S THEATRE — $45,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S THEATREQUEENS UNIVERSITY CATO SCHOOL OF EDUCATION — $43,000 · OtherQUEENS UNIVERSITY CATO SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONSALVATION ARMY CENTER OF HOPE — $16,000 · Other+4 more — $23,000 · Other+4 moreDarlington School Inc — $120,000 · EducationDarlington School IncUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL H ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION — $48,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLIN…CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL — $19,500 · EducationCHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOO…+1 more — $5,000 · EducationCrisis Assistance Ministry — $90,000 · Human ServicesCrisis Assistance Minis…Charlotte Family Housing — $67,000 · Human ServicesCharlotte Family Housin…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $8,000 · Human ServicesNorthwestern University — $48,000 · Recreation & SportsROOF ABOVE INC — $30,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC — $10,000 · PhilanthropyYoung Black Leadership Alliance — $6,000 · Youth Development
Other$335,000Education$192,500Human Services$165,000Recreation & Sports$48,000Arts & Culture$30,000Philanthropy$10,000Youth Development$6,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetDarlington School Inc — $120,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCrisis Assistance Ministry — $90,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCharlotte Family Housing — $67,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL H ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION — $48,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University — $48,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetROOF ABOVE INC — $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL — $19,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYoung Black Leadership Alliance — $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMyers Park High School Foundation Inc — $5,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTreesCharlotte — $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Harvest Center of Charlotte Inc — $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Darlington School Inc
  • Who funds Crisis Assistance Ministry
  • Who funds Charlotte Family Housing
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL H ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Northwestern University
  • Who funds ROOF ABOVE INC
  • Who funds CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
  • Who funds Young Black Leadership Alliance
  • Who funds Myers Park High School Foundation Inc
  • Who funds TreesCharlotte
  • Who funds The Harvest Center of Charlotte Inc

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Duke Energy FoundationNC17.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Duke Energy Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Albemarle Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Cornwell Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Cornwell Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Cornwell Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 22 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph