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Make North Carolina First at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Make North Carolina First

Make North Carolina First conducts research, sponsors educational activities and events, and disseminates accurate and timely information to promote the general public's understanding of ways to maintain and improve North Carolina's common good, quality of life and social welfare.

$12M
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$5.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Civil Rights$12MPublic Benefit$11MEducation$1.2MCommunity Improvement$400kHealth$50k
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $803k
  • $250k+9 grants · $11M
$250,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$823k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
North Carolina Families First$5,290,000
Rally NC$1,728,000
Fair Future NC$1,000,000
Progress North Carolina Action$781,500
NC A Philip Randolph Educational Fund Inc$730,000
Down Home NC$400,000
Siembra NC$375,000
NCAAT In Action$350,000
Majority Rising NC$250,000
Advance North Carolina$200,000
NC Citizens for Protecting our Schools$153,000
Carolina Federation$150,000
Lead NC$100,000
New Rural Project$100,000
America Votes$100,000
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, $676k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NCAAT In Action: $350k → 8%NCAAT In Action: $225k → 8%NCAAT In Action: $26k → 8%Fortaleza: $75k → 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.
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 14 repeat orgs$6.0M to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
9

Total granted

$18M
$2.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+21%

Still filing today

93%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.3M 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
Civil RightsCommunity ImprovementPublic BenefitEducationHuman ServicesCrime & LegalOther
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

  • PN
    PROGRESS NORTH CAROLINA ACTION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.9M · revenue +469% · 26% of their budget
  • LN
    Lead NC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +17% · 84% of their budget
  • JF
    JUSTICE FOR NC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +27% · 64% of their budget

Funded once

  • AB
    A Better NC
    one grant, 2020 · $2.2M
  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA LATINO POWER
    one grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue -47% · 79% of their budget
  • FJ
    FORWARD JUSTICEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +68%
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
Democracy North Carolina

Democracy North Carolina's mission is to strengthen democratic structures, build power among disenfranchised communities, and inspire confidence in a transformed political process that works for all.

Civil Rights
2
Forward Justice Action Network

Forward Justice Action Network is a nonprofit with the purpose to engage in educational and advocacy activities to promote political and grassroots support for public policies that advance racial social and economic justice in North…

Human Services
3
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…

—
4
Progress North Carolina

Progress North Carolina conducts research, sponsors educational activities and events, and disseminates accurate and timely information to promote the general public's understanding of ways to maintain and improve North Carolina's common…

Community Improvement
5
North Carolina for the People

To educate the public on how to build a democracy where everyone participates, every vote is counted, voting rights are fully enforced, and everyone's voice is heard; to work toward a system where everyone has a say in decisions that…

Civil Rights
6
North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform

North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform (NC4RR) is a bipartisan nonprofit working to improve North Carolina's representative democracy through redistricting reform. NC4RR's objective is to help pass a state constitutional amendment in…

—
7
North Carolina Voter Project

Amplify unrepresented voices in north carolina elections through voter education and registration.

Civil Rights
8
North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Foundation Inc

In collaboration with the legal community, NCEAJF empowers North Carolinians to navigate the civil justice system.

Crime & Legal
9
Nc for the People Action (formerly Nc Voters for Clean Elections)

To improve the election process by making the act of voting more accessible to citizens, to lessen the influence of money in politics and to generally make elected officials more responsive to the citizens of North Carolina.

Public Benefit
10
North Carolina Information Innovation Fund Inc

The North Carolina Information Innovation Fund NCIIF will educate the residents of North Carolina on civic duty and election related matters, including the importance of voting in elections, national policies impacting North Carolina, how…

Public Benefit
11
Make North Carolina First

Make North Carolina First conducts research, sponsors educational activities and events, and disseminates accurate and timely information to promote the general public's understanding of ways to maintain and improve North Carolina's common…

—
12
Blueprint North Carolina

The Organization is a partnership of public policy, advocacy and grassroots organizing nonprofits dedicated to achieving a better, fairer, healthier North Carolina through the development of an integrated communications and civic…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New North Carolina Project Action First Inc; the most unlike its peers is Real Facts Nc. 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

25 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. 25 of the 29 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.

8
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
13/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

North Carolina Families First: $8,542,769 · OtherNorth Carolina Families FirstA Better NC: $2,200,000 · OtherA Better NCRally NC: $1,728,000 · OtherRally NCLead NC: $1,371,000 · OtherLead NCFair Future NC: $1,000,000 · OtherFair Future NC+6 more: $602,000 · OtherPROGRESS NORTH CAROLINA ACTION: $1,904,850 · Public BenefitPROGRESS NORT…Majority Rising NC: $970,000 · Public BenefitMajority Risi…A PHILIP RANDOLPH EDUCATIONAL FUND: $1,446,000 · Civil RightsA PHILIP RAN…PODER NC ACTION: $534,500 · Civil RightsPODER NC ACT…SIEMBRA NC: $375,000 · Civil RightsSIEMBRA NCCAROLINA FEDERATION: $255,000 · Civil RightsCAROLINA FED…+1 more: $25,000 · Civil RightsJUSTICE FOR NC: $1,227,000 · EducationNORTH CAROLINA LATINO POWER: $150,000 · EducationPEOPLE'S ACTION: $574,000 · Community ImprovementADVANCE NORTH CAROLINA INC: $400,000 · Community ImprovementAmerica Votes: $100,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $54,000 · Community ImprovementNCAAT IN ACTION: $601,000 · Human ServicesEL PUEBLO INC: $75,000 · Human ServicesFORWARD JUSTICE: $100,000 · Crime & LegalPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $50,000 · Health
Other$15,443,769Public Benefit$2,874,850Civil Rights$2,635,500Education$1,377,000Community Improvement$1,128,000Human Services$676,000Crime & Legal$100,000Health$50,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPROGRESS NORTH CAROLINA ACTION: $1,904,850 over 5y, 26% of budgetRally NC: $1,728,000 over 1y, 28% of budgetA PHILIP RANDOLPH EDUCATIONAL FUND: $1,446,000 over 4y, 53% of budgetLead NC: $1,371,000 over 5y, 84% of budgetJUSTICE FOR NC: $1,227,000 over 5y, 64% of budgetFair Future NC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetMajority Rising NC: $970,000 over 3y, 19% of budgetNCAAT IN ACTION: $601,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetPEOPLE'S ACTION: $574,000 over 3y, 19% of budgetPODER NC ACTION: $534,500 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetADVANCE NORTH CAROLINA INC: $400,000 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetSIEMBRA NC: $375,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetReal Facts NC: $293,000 over 3y, 100% of budgetCAROLINA FEDERATION: $255,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetNew Rural Project: $159,000 over 2y, 8.8% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA LATINO POWER: $150,000 over 1y, 79% of budgetFORWARD JUSTICE: $100,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetAmerica Votes: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDurham For All: $80,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetEL PUEBLO INC: $75,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW NORTH CAROLINA PROJECT ACTION FIRST INC: $25,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetMIJENTE: $24,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetACTION NC: $15,000 over 1y, 5.4% 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.

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.

Sixteen Thirty FundAmerica VotesImagine North Carolin…Tides FoundationOpen Society Action F…All Hands on Deck Net…Way to Win Action Fun…NEO Philanthropy Acti…Pro-Democracy CampaignTides AdvocacyThe Heising-Simons Ac…Women Donors Network …
Sixteen Thirty FundDC35.3× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sixteen Thirty Fund · America Votes · Imagine North Carolina First · Tides Foundation · Open Society Action Fund Inc · All Hands on Deck Network Inc · Way to Win Action Fund Inc · NEO Philanthropy Action Fund Inc · Pro-Democracy Campaign · Tides Advocacy · The Heising-Simons Action Fund · Women Donors Network Action

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 Make North Carolina First funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Make North Carolina First. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Make North Carolina First?

    Find your warmest path to Make North Carolina First 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 29 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Make North Carolina First’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