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· Private foundation

Directed Balloun Family 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.

$620k
Granted FY2025still arriving
65
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$335kArts & Culture$280kPhilanthropy$188kRecreation & Sports$150kHuman Services$108kEnvironment$105kYouth Development$82kHealth$79kOther$0
02FY2025 · 65 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k39 grants · $185k
  • $10k–50k24 grants · $285k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
$5,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM$100,000
CAPE FEAR ACADEMY$50,000
WESTMINSTER SCHOOLS$25,000
PARK PRIDE$20,000
TRYALL FUND$20,000
SKIDMORE COLLEGE$20,000
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$10,000
TRINITY SCHOOL OF ATLANTA$10,000
EDEN VILLAGE OF WILMINGTON$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME$10,000
LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION$10,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF SOUTHEASTERN NC$10,000
ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK$10,000
CUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION$10,000
NOURISHNC$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–25, $82k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%AGAPE COMMUNITY CENTER: $11k → 10%TRYALL FUND: $20k → 11%AGAPE COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $1k → 13%LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $1k → 13%LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $500 → 13%LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $500 → 13%CHRIS 180: $6k → 14%CHRIS 180: $5k → 14%CHRIS 180 INC: $1k → 14%CHRIS 180 INC: $1k → 14%CHRIS 180 INC: $1k → 14%CHRIS 180 INC: $1k → 14%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR: $5k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR: $1k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR: $1k → 12%FAMILIES FIRST: $10k → 13%FAMILIES FIRST: $6k → 13%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NY
MA
IN
CA
VA
MD
NC
SC
GA
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 63 repeat orgs$196k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against -18% for those funded once.

63 repeat relationships: 51 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
7

Total granted

$1.3M
$113k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
-18%

Still filing today

73%
29%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $84k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesEnvironmentHousing & ShelterArts & CultureRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • LW
    LOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM
    6× · 2019–2025 · $114k · revenue +3%
  • CF
    Cape Fear Academy
    6× · 2019–2025 · $95k · revenue +70%
  • SC
    SKIDMORE COLLEGE
    3× · 2022–2025 · $35k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • AS
    ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
  • HD
    HISTORIC DISTRICT DEV CORPORATION
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
  • Teach for America Inc
    one grant, 2019 · $4k · revenue -18%
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.

04Its field

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.

1
Children's Home Society of North Carolina Inc

The Children's Home Society of North Carolina's mission is to promote the right of every child to a permanent, safe, and loving family.

Human Services
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
Coastal Carolinas Health Alliance

Facilitate networking among hospitals

Health
4
Habitat for Humanity Cabarrus County

Guided by God, Habitat Cabarrus transforms lives and our community by uniting all of Cabarrus County around the cause of decent, affordable housing for everyone.

Housing & Shelter
5
Carolina Charter Academy

Operation of a public charter school.

Education
6
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
7
For Charlotte Inc

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

Religion
8
Carolina Family Health Centers Inc

Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. provides accessible and affordable health care with excellence...where patients come FIRST

—
9
Goodwill of the Coastal Empire Inc

Our commitment is to provide the individual support, meaningful training and employment services to people to remove barriers and close skill gaps so that individuals build brighter futures.

Employment
10
Horizons Atlanta Inc

Horizons Atlanta is a tuition-free, intensive, six-week summer academic and enrichment program that supports students from under-served communities over the course of their academic careers.

Youth Development
11
Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas Inc

Junior achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating private and public school students in grades k-12 about entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, and financial literacy, through experiential, hands-on programs.

International
12
Wake County Smart Start Inc

Wake county smart start invests in young children, their families, and a connected early childhood system that supports and prepares them for school and life ahead.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Atlanta Children's Shelter Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is University of Notre Dame du Lac. 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

62 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 62 of the 85 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/62
Grantees still filing
38/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WELLS FARGO DONOR ADVISED FUND: $165,786 · OtherWELLS FARGO DONOR ADVISED FUNDATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $100,000 · OtherATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA+49 more: $435,650 · Other+49 moreCape Fear Academy: $95,000 · EducationCape Fear AcademyThe Westminster Schools Inc: $59,000 · EducationThe Westminster Schoo…SKIDMORE COLLEGE: $35,000 · EducationSKIDMORE COLLEGEUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $34,000 · EducationUniversity of Notre D…CLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,000 · EducationCLEMSON UNIVERSITY FO…PROPEL ATL INC: $17,000 · EducationPROPEL ATL INCCAPE FEAR LITERACY COUNCIL: $15,000 · Education+2 more: $8,000 · EducationLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM: $114,000 · Arts & CultureLOUISE WELLS …CUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION: $34,000 · Arts & CultureCUCALORUS FIL…Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County: $17,000 · Arts & CultureArts Council …DREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureDREAMS OF WIL…PARK PRIDE INC: $68,850 · Recreation & SportsPATH FOUNDATION INC: $27,000 · Recreation & SportsWRIGHTSVILLE BEACH FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsAgape Community Center: $4,000 · Recreation & SportsAGAPE COMMUNITY CENTER: $21,000 · Human ServicesTryall Fund Jamaica: $20,000 · Human ServicesFAMILIES FIRST INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesCHRIS 180 INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesMust Ministries Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesCommunities in Schools of Cape Fear Inc: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesTREES ATLANTA INC: $27,000 · EnvironmentAlliance for Cape Fear Trees: $23,400 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $12,500 · EnvironmentCape Fear River Watch: $11,000 · EnvironmentTHE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentEden Village of Wilmington: $17,000 · Housing & ShelterGood Shepherd Ministries of Wilmington Inc: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterATLANTA CHILDREN'S SHELTER INCORPORATED: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterHABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN ATLANTA INC: $14,000 · Housing & ShelterCAPE FEAR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $10,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$701,436Education$286,000Arts & Culture$180,000Recreation & Sports$104,850Human Services$96,500Environment$83,900Housing & Shelter$71,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM: $114,000 over 6y, 3.4% of budgetCape Fear Academy: $95,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPARK PRIDE INC: $68,850 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetThe Westminster Schools Inc: $59,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSKIDMORE COLLEGE: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION: $34,000 over 6y, 2.4% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $34,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTREES ATLANTA INC: $27,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPATH FOUNDATION INC: $27,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAlliance for Cape Fear Trees: $23,400 over 3y, 9.3% of budgetCLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $23,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAGAPE COMMUNITY CENTER: $21,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetLAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOC FOUNDATION: $21,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetTryall Fund Jamaica: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFAMILIES FIRST INC: $20,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNourishNC Inc: $19,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetPROPEL ATL INC: $17,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetArts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County: $17,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetEden Village of Wilmington: $17,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $16,000 over 2y, 51% of budgetGood Shepherd Ministries of Wilmington Inc: $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE STUDY HALL INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetBoys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta Inc: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE GEORGIA INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetDREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetATLANTA CHILDREN'S SHELTER INCORPORATED: $15,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCAPE FEAR LITERACY COUNCIL: $15,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetCHRIS 180 INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA COASTAL FEDERATION INC: $14,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN ATLANTA INC: $14,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKIDS MAKING IT INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetCape Fear River Watch: $11,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetGLOW WILMINGTON INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE FEAR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBACKPACK BUDDIES OF METRO ATLANTA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMust Ministries Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPiedmont Park Conservancy Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGEORGE WEST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCoastal Horizons Center Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCommunities in Schools of Cape Fear Inc: $7,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHILL & HIGH WATER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBRIGADE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPARKS CONSERVANCY OF NEW HANOVER COUNTY: $5,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetAtlanta Humane Society & Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHEPHERD CENTER INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budget
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.

  • Who funds LOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Cape Fear Academy ↗
  • Who funds PARK PRIDE INC ↗
  • Who funds The Westminster Schools Inc ↗
  • Who funds SKIDMORE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds CUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds TREES ATLANTA INC ↗
  • Who funds PATH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Alliance for Cape Fear Trees ↗
  • Who funds CLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AGAPE COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LAKE BURTON CIVIC ASSOC FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Tryall Fund Jamaica ↗
  • Who funds FAMILIES FIRST INC ↗
  • Who funds NourishNC Inc ↗
  • Who funds PROPEL ATL INC ↗
  • Who funds Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County ↗
  • Who funds Eden Village of Wilmington ↗
  • Who funds SHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Good Shepherd Ministries of Wilmington Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE STUDY HALL INC ↗
  • Who funds Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta Inc ↗
  • Who funds COVENANT HOUSE GEORGIA INC ↗
  • Who funds DREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds ATLANTA CHILDREN'S SHELTER INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds CAPE FEAR LITERACY COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds CHRIS 180 INC ↗
  • Who funds ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL FEDERATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN ATLANTA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KIDS MAKING IT INC ↗

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.

The Landfall Foundation IncNC38.7× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Landfall Foundation Inc · New Hanover Community Endowment Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · Corning Incorporated Foundation · United Way of the Cape Fear Area Inc · The True North Foundation Co Amy Brown North · The Lagomarsino Foundation · Cape Fear Memorial Foundation · The Rudisill Family Foundation · Jeffrey Schrager & Anne York Family Foundation · The Eshelman Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Directed Balloun Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Directed Balloun Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
21report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 85 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

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

Source object · view filing

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