Skip to content
Fenwick Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Fenwick 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.

$626k
Granted FY2024still arriving
78
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$683kHuman Services$328kCommunity Improvement$268kEducation$244kYouth Development$201kEnvironment$166kCrime & Legal$162kHealth$142kOther$0
02FY2024 · 78 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k53 grants · $214k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $412k
$5,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$6.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTH CAROLINA THEATRE$30,000
ARTS CENTER$25,000
TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$22,500
SAFE CHILD$22,500
ABUNDANCE FOUNDATION$21,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB$21,000
BLUE MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR MEDIATION$20,000
WEBB SQUARED$20,000
SIDE BY SIDE$16,500
YOUTH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SANITY$16,000
METTA CENTER FOR NON VIOLENCE$16,000
SOCIAL GOOD FUND$15,000
HYGEIA FOUNDATION$15,000
CANTICLE FARM$15,000
MK GANDHI INSTITUTE$15,000
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 (FY20–24, $348k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 1% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GA LA COMMUNITY CENTER: $100 → 9%COMMUNITY ACTION MARIN: $5k → 8%YWCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $5k → 10%DOVETAIL LEARNING: $8k → 9%DOVETAIL LEARNING: $8k → 9%DOVETAIL LEARNING: $5k → 9%URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY: $13k → 8%URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY: $12k → 8%URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY: $12k → 8%URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY: $12k → 8%URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY: $12k → 8%NORTH BAY CHILDRENS CENTER: $4k → 8%COMMONWEAL: $6k → 8%STEP UP MINISTRY: $4k → 8%STEP UP MINISTRY: $1k → 8%TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $23k → 8%TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $23k → 8%TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $23k → 8%TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FDN: $6k → 8%YMCA OF THE TRIANGLE: $60k → 8%YMCA OF THE TRIANGLE: $60k → 8%YMCA OF THE TRIANGLE: $10k → 8%YMCA OF THE TRIANGLE: $10k → 8%YMCA OF THE TRIANGLE: $10k → 8%GREEN CHAIR PROJECT: $5k → 8%GREEN CHAIR PROJECT: $5k → 8%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

NH
WA
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
NJ
CT
CA
MO
VA
NM
NC
DC
AL
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.7M · 85 repeat orgs$291k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

85 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2024, 28 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

85
46

Total granted

$2.7M
$218k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+22%

Still filing today

75%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $73k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthInternationalYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • The Abundance Foundation Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $159k · revenue +127%
  • TY
    The Young Men's Christian Association of the Triangle Area Inc (4598)
    5× · 2020–2024 · $150k · revenue +88%
  • WEBB Squared
    3× · 2022–2024 · $108k · revenue +279% · 33% of their budget

Funded once

  • TE
    THE ELLA BAKER WOMENS CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • UO
    UNC OF CHAPEL HILL
    one grant, 2021 · $24k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
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
Marin Open Studios

Marin open studios is a non-profit visual arts organization dedicated to engaging and supporting marin county artists and their audiences through events, programs and services. marin open studios champions a diverse and inclusive community…

Arts & Culture
2
Center for Participatory Change

Igniting collective power. Transforming systems of oppression. Healing in community.

Community Improvement
3
North Carolina Biotechnology Center

The north carolina biotechnology center aids the biotechnology-related efforts of researchers, businesses, state and federal governments, and other agencies primarily through awards of grants and loans related to specific programs and…

Science & Tech
4
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
5
California Institute of Integral Studies

Ciis is an institution of higher education that encourages an interdisciplinary approach to learning. over 1,700 students are enrolled in masters, doctoral, bachelor of arts completion programs, and certifications. ours is a mosaic of…

Education
6
Mills College

Mills college is an independent liberal arts college for women and gender nonbinary students, with graduate programs for all genders. the college educates students to think critically and communicate responsibly and effectively, to accept…

—
7
Epacenter

Epacenter's mission is to increase opportunities for youth to discover and amplify their talents, realize their potential, and impact the world through art, design, and technology.

Arts & Culture
8
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
9
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
10
Chamber Music Raleigh Inc

To enrich and connect individuals in the greater raleigh community through intimate and exceptional chamber music experiences. we are committed to presenting world class artists performing music of the highest caliber, providing…

Arts & Culture
11
Action Institute Nc

Action institute nc is a community organization and citizens action group that organizes residents of low-wealth communities and constituencies most of whom are people of color- to represent their own interests on issues of social and…

—
12
North Carolina Museum of Life & Science Inc

To create a place of lifelong learning where people, from young child to senior citizen, embrace science as a way of knowing about themselves, their community, and their world.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Movement Strategy Center; the most unlike its peers is Canticle Farm. 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

110 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. 110 of the 154 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
107/110
Grantees still filing
77/110
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BLUE MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR MEDIATION: $100,000 · OtherBLUE MOUNTAIN CENTER FOR MEDIATIONBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $91,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBTHE NORTH CAROLINA THEATRE: $90,000 · OtherTHE NORTH CAROLINA THEATREEco-Institute at Pickards Mountain Inc: $71,385 · OtherMETTA CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE: $71,000 · OtherMK GANDHI INSTITUTE: $68,000 · OtherHYGEIA FOUNDATION: $62,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $50,000 · OtherNC CAROLINA ARTS IN ACTION: $48,500 · OtherNonviolent Peaceforce: $76,000 · OtherSAFECHILD: $60,000 · OtherCanticle Farm: $52,500 · Other+67 more: $589,835 · Other+67 moreCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $78,500 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA FILM INS…CAROLINA BALLET INC: $58,500 · Arts & CultureCAROLINA BALLET INCARTS CENTER: $57,000 · Arts & CultureARTS CENTERGREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART: $40,500 · Arts & CultureGREEN HILL CENTER F…MARIN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $32,000 · Arts & CultureMARIN SHAKESPEARE C…Penland School Of Craft: $24,675 · Arts & CultureART WORKS DOWNTOWN INC: $24,600 · Arts & CultureNORTH CAROLINA ARTS IN ACTION INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureARTSPACE INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMarin Museum of Contemporary Art: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMOUNTAIN PLAY ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMARIN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: $18,700 · Arts & CultureEast Bay Center for the Performing Arts: $17,500 · Arts & Culture+15 more: $91,050 · Arts & Culture+15 moreThe Young Men's Christian Association of the Triangle Area Inc (4598): $150,000 · Human ServicesThe Young Men's…TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $83,500 · Human ServicesTAMMY LYNN MEMO…URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY INC: $60,200 · Human ServicesURBAN MINISTRIE…STEPUP DURHAM: $34,000 · Human ServicesSTEPUP DURHAMDovetail Learning Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesRITTER CENTER: $14,000 · Human Services+10 more: $51,960 · Human Services+10 moreNC STATE ENGINEERING FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 · EducationNC STATE …SOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $42,000 · EducationSOCIAL GO…MARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY: $35,500 · EducationMARY BALD…DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $26,000 · EducationDOMINICAN…WILLIAM PEACE UNIVERSITY: $21,000 · EducationWILLIAM P…Center for Early Intervention on Deafness: $19,000 · EducationCenter fo…10000 DEGREES: $9,000 · Education+8 more: $16,454 · Education+8 moreThe Abundance Foundation Inc: $159,148 · Philanthropy+4 more: $20,400 · PhilanthropySide By Side: $55,500 · HealthTO CELEBRATE LIFE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthALLIANCE MEDICAL MINISTRY INC: $17,500 · HealthProject Commotion: $12,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $5,000 · HealthHopeWay Foundation: $5,000 · Health+3 more: $9,500 · HealthWEBB Squared: $107,500 · Community Improvement+1 more: $1,000 · Community Improvement
Other$1,430,720Arts & Culture$523,025Human Services$413,660Education$248,954Philanthropy$179,548Health$139,500Community Improvement$108,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Abundance Foundation Inc: $159,148 over 5y, 12% of budgetThe Young Men's Christian Association of the Triangle Area Inc (4598): $150,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetWEBB Squared: $107,500 over 3y, 33% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA THEATRE: $90,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetTAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $83,500 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetNC STATE ENGINEERING FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $78,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNonviolent Peaceforce: $76,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetEco-Institute at Pickards Mountain Inc: $71,385 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetMETTA CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE: $71,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetURBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY INC: $60,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAFECHILD: $60,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCAROLINA BALLET INC: $58,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetARTS CENTER: $57,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetSide By Side: $55,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCanticle Farm: $52,500 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetWEAVING EARTH INC: $42,500 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $42,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART: $40,500 over 5y, 4.9% of budgetYouth for Environmental Sanity: $37,902 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetMARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY: $35,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTO CELEBRATE LIFE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetSTEPUP DURHAM: $34,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetMARIN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $32,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $26,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPenland School Of Craft: $24,675 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetART WORKS DOWNTOWN INC: $24,600 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetWILLIAM PEACE UNIVERSITY: $21,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHomeward Bound of Marin: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA ARTS IN ACTION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetARTSPACE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetDovetail Learning Inc: $20,000 over 3y, 8.0% of budgetMarin Museum of Contemporary Art: $20,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetMOUNTAIN PLAY ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetCenter for Early Intervention on Deafness: $19,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMARIN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: $18,700 over 4y, 4.9% of budgetMindful Life Project: $18,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetALLIANCE MEDICAL MINISTRY INC: $17,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetEast Bay Center for the Performing Arts: $17,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRITTER CENTER: $14,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNourish International: $12,500 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCREATIVE VISIONS FOUNDATION: $12,100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetProject Commotion: $12,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE GREEN CHAIR PROJECT: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEASTERN WOODLAND LACROSS: $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetYouth in Arts: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% 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 The Abundance Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Young Men's Christian Association of the Triangle Area Inc (4598) ↗
  • Who funds WEBB Squared ↗
  • Who funds THE NORTH CAROLINA THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds TAMMY LYNN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NC STATE ENGINEERING FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Nonviolent Peaceforce ↗
  • Who funds Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain Inc ↗
  • Who funds METTA CENTER FOR NONVIOLENCE ↗
  • Who funds URBAN MINISTRIES OF WAKE COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds SAFECHILD ↗
  • Who funds CAROLINA BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Side By Side ↗
  • Who funds Canticle Farm ↗
  • Who funds WEAVING EARTH INC ↗
  • Who funds SOCIAL GOOD FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds GREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART ↗
  • Who funds Youth for Environmental Sanity ↗
  • Who funds MARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TO CELEBRATE LIFE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds STEPUP DURHAM ↗
  • Who funds MARIN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds Penland School Of Craft ↗
  • Who funds ART WORKS DOWNTOWN INC ↗
  • Who funds WILLIAM PEACE UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

Triangle Community Fo…Leonard & Beryl Buck …Marin Community Found…John William Pope Fou…Bothin FoundationAj Fletcher FoundationElla Ann L and Frank …The San Francisco Fou…Duke Energy FoundationMcNabb FoundationW Trent Ragland Jr Fo…United Way of the Gre…
Triangle Community Foundation IncNC54.2× affinity29 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Triangle Community Foundation Inc · Leonard & Beryl Buck Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · John William Pope Foundation · Bothin Foundation · Aj Fletcher Foundation · Ella Ann L and Frank B Holding Foundatio · The San Francisco Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · McNabb Foundation · W Trent Ragland Jr Foundation · United Way of the Greater Triangle Inc

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 Fenwick Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Fenwick Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
39report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Fenwick Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Fenwick 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 154 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $616k of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Fenwick’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home