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Polk County Community Foundation Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Community foundation

Polk County Community Foundation Inc

To administer funds entrusted to support charitable, cultural, educational and publicly beneficial activities in the community centered in and around polk county, n.c.

$3.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$321k
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$3.1MFood & Nutrition$1.3MEducation$1.3MEnvironment$1.2MRecreation & Sports$767kReligion$724kHealth$497kHuman Services$378kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 50 grants below total $3,067,747, the rows itemized in this filing. The $3,304,890 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $237,143 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $82k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $463k
  • $50k–250k18 grants · $1.9M
  • $250k+2 grants · $598k
$32,518
Median grant
2
States reached
$77M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THERMAL BELT OUTREACH MINISTRY INC$320,888
POLK COUNTY SCHOOLS$276,708
FENCE$203,775
HOPEFUL RESTORATION GROUP$200,000
SUNNY VIEW CLUBHOUSE$186,900
TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER$155,754
TRYON ARTS & CRAFTS INC$134,818
CONSERVING CAROLINA$110,555
EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS$97,710
TRYON LITTLE THEATER INC$89,610
WALNUT CREEK PRESERVE$89,000
SALUDA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC$86,500
MOUNTAIN TRUE$83,300
LANIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION$82,789
UPSTAIRS ARTSPACE$79,381
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, $288k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOPEFUL RESTORATION GROUP: $200k → 13%GREEN CREEK COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 13%Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation: $13k → 13%ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION: $13k → 13%ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION: $13k → 13%Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation: $12k → 13%ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION: $11k → 13%ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION: $11k → 13%ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION: $11k → 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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 47 repeat orgs$581k to everyone else

47 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
7

Total granted

$12M
$223k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+21%

Still filing today

70%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $359k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentFood & NutritionCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEducationOther
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

  • TB
    THERMAL BELT OUTREACH MINISTRY INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +70%
  • FE
    Foothills Equestrian Nature Center Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +61% · 35% of their budget
  • TA
    TRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $821k · revenue +22% · 55% of their budget

Funded once

  • TH
    THE HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION
    one grant, 2024 · $73k · revenue 0%
  • FB
    FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF TRYON INC
    one grant, 2024 · $61k
  • GG
    Go Global NC Council Incgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $35k · revenue +32%
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
Polk County Community Foundation Inc

To administer funds entrusted to support charitable, cultural, educational and publicly beneficial activities in the community centered in and around polk county, n.c. both by directly expending sums for such purposes and in cooperation…

Philanthropy
2
Triangle Land Conservancy Inc

Triangle land conservancy (tlc) strives to create a healthier and more vibrant triangle region by safeguarding clean water, protecting natural habitats, supporting local farms, and connecting people with nature through land protection and…

Environment
3
Rowan Economic Development Council

Promoting economic and industrial development in rowan county, north carolina

—
4
Durham Central Park

Durham central park is an exciting downtown destination that offers a venue for cultural activities and is part of a 24-hour, authentic, walkable, neighborhood for arts, recreation and locally owned businesses.

Community Improvement
5
Wnc Communities

WNC Communities empowers the people of Western North Carolina to cultivate the vitality and prosperity of mountain communities through collaboration and agricultural opportunities. This mission is accomplished through a program of work…

Food & Nutrition
6
Performing Arts Center Inc

To provide high quality venues and performing arts for the Highlands - Cashiers community.

Arts & Culture
7
Transylvania Community Arts Council

To promote arts in the community and local schools.

Arts & Culture
8
Wilkes Playmakers Inc

Provide cultural and artistic programs for the public of Wilkes County, NC and the surrounding area

Arts & Culture
9
The Carolina Trust
Philanthropy
10
Tryon Historical Museum Inc

History museum

Arts & Culture
11
Nc Local Inc

Expands local news across North Carolina

Civil Rights
12
TreesCharlotte

Public/private collaborative to plant trees, raise awareness of the canopy, and educate about tree care.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tryon Arts and Crafts Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Saluda Pop-Up Pantry. 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

46 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. 46 of the 63 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.

16
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/46
Grantees still filing
28/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Polk County Schools: $986,575 · OtherPolk County SchoolsEpiscopal Church of the Holy Cross: $666,040 · OtherEpiscopal Church of the Holy CrossSt Luke's Foundation Inc: $476,851 · OtherSt Luke's Foundation IncTRYON PAINTERS & SCULPTORS INC: $332,521 · OtherTRYON PAINTERS & SCULPTORS INCSUNNYVIEW CLUB HOUSE: $274,200 · OtherSUNNYVIEW CLUB HOUSETRYON GARDEN CLUB INC: $268,175 · OtherTRYON GARDEN CLUB INCSTEPS TO HOPE INC: $262,144 · OtherSTEPS TO HOPE INCPOLK COUNTY GOVERNMENT: $217,416 · OtherROSELAND COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $174,300 · OtherFoothills Humane Society Inc: $211,653 · Other+25 more: $1,015,635 · Other+25 moreTRYON FINE ARTS CENTER INC: $1,313,179 · Arts & CultureTRYON FINE ARTS CENTER INCTRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS INC: $821,279 · Arts & CultureTRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS INCTRYON LITTLE THEATER INC: $428,665 · Arts & CultureTRYON LITTLE THEATER INCUPSTAIRS ARTSPACE INC: $393,386 · Arts & CultureUPSTAIRS ARTSPACE INCCHILDRENS THEATER FESTIVAL INC: $119,194 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $300,019 · Arts & Culture+5 moreFoothills Equestrian Nature Center Inc: $1,189,662 · EnvironmentFoothills Equestri…Conserving Carolina: $421,115 · EnvironmentConserving Carolin…SALUDA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC: $291,381 · EnvironmentSALUDA COMMUNITY L…MountainTrue: $140,500 · EnvironmentMountainTrueWALNUT CREEK PRESERVE: $89,000 · Environment+1 more: $25,000 · EnvironmentTHERMAL BELT OUTREACH MINISTRY INC: $1,476,603 · Food & NutritionTHERMAL BELT …THE SALUDA POP-UP PANTRY: $87,990 · Food & NutritionTHE SALUDA PO…+1 more: $22,270 · Food & NutritionLANIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $481,400 · EducationE POLK INC: $55,000 · EducationFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $292,554 · Community ImprovementUNITY IN THE COMMUNITY: $159,000 · Community ImprovementSaluda Downtown Foundation Inc: $27,034 · Community Improvement+1 more: $13,336 · Community ImprovementHOPEFUL RESTORATION GROUP INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION INC: $83,440 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human Services
Other$4,885,510Arts & Culture$3,375,722Environment$2,156,658Food & Nutrition$1,586,863Education$536,400Community Improvement$491,924Human Services$288,440

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 budgetTHERMAL BELT OUTREACH MINISTRY INC: $1,476,603 over 7y, 19% of budgetTRYON FINE ARTS CENTER INC: $1,313,179 over 7y, 37% of budgetFoothills Equestrian Nature Center Inc: $1,189,662 over 7y, 35% of budgetTRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS INC: $821,279 over 7y, 55% of budgetLANIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC: $481,400 over 7y, 28% of budgetSt Luke's Foundation Inc: $476,851 over 7y, 18% of budgetTRYON LITTLE THEATER INC: $428,665 over 7y, 48% of budgetConserving Carolina: $421,115 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetUPSTAIRS ARTSPACE INC: $393,386 over 7y, 98% of budgetTRYON PAINTERS & SCULPTORS INC: $332,521 over 7y, 60% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $292,554 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSALUDA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC: $291,381 over 6y, 57% of budgetTRYON GARDEN CLUB INC: $268,175 over 7y, 47% of budgetSTEPS TO HOPE INC: $262,144 over 7y, 2.6% of budgetFoothills Humane Society Inc: $211,653 over 7y, 8.2% of budgetROSELAND COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $174,300 over 7y, 72% of budgetUNITY IN THE COMMUNITY: $159,000 over 4y, 73% of budgetMountainTrue: $140,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCHILDRENS THEATER FESTIVAL INC: $119,194 over 6y, 40% of budgetBig BrothersBig Sisters of WNC Inc: $109,590 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetTRYON DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIAT: $94,244 over 3y, 54% of budgetTHE SALUDA POP-UP PANTRY: $87,990 over 4y, 20% of budgetROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION INC: $83,440 over 7y, 37% of budgetSaluda Depot Museum: $76,375 over 6y, 91% of budgetTRYON CONCERT ASSOCIATION INC: $74,400 over 6y, 21% of budgetTHE HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION: $73,057 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetSt Lukes Hospital: $70,250 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetPISGAH LEGAL SERVICES: $60,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetE POLK INC: $55,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION of Greater Spartanburg: $47,319 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPOLK COUNTY FILM INITIATIVE INC: $39,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetGo Global NC Council Inc: $35,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetHenderson County & Thermal Belt Habitat for Humanity: $27,160 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSaluda Downtown Foundation Inc: $27,034 over 2y, 11% of budgetASPIRE POLK COUNTY A CHILD AND FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $26,735 over 2y, 15% of budgetPOLK COUNTY SHELTERED WORKSHOP INC: $24,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPOLK COUNTY 4H & YOUTH FOUNDATION I: $22,270 over 3y, 17% of budgetChampions for Wildlife: $16,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetPOLK COUNTY CAMPUS ICC FOUNDATION INC: $15,600 over 3y, 10% of budgetPOLK COUNTY HEALTH & WELLNESS COALITION: $13,336 over 2y, 63% of budgetACTS LEGACY FOUNDATION INC: $8,780 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION OF THE NCCAT INC: $8,500 over 1y, 1.8% 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 THERMAL BELT OUTREACH MINISTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds TRYON FINE ARTS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Foothills Equestrian Nature Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds TRYON ARTS AND CRAFTS INC ↗
  • Who funds LANIER LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds St Luke's Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds TRYON LITTLE THEATER INC ↗
  • Who funds Conserving Carolina ↗
  • Who funds UPSTAIRS ARTSPACE INC ↗
  • Who funds TRYON PAINTERS & SCULPTORS INC ↗
  • Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds SALUDA COMMUNITY LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds TRYON GARDEN CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds STEPS TO HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds Foothills Humane Society Inc ↗
  • Who funds HOPEFUL RESTORATION GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds ROSELAND COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds MountainTrue ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS THEATER FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Big BrothersBig Sisters of WNC Inc ↗
  • Who funds TRYON DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIAT ↗
  • Who funds WALNUT CREEK PRESERVE ↗
  • Who funds THE SALUDA POP-UP PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds ROTARY CLUB OF TRYON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Saluda Depot Museum ↗
  • Who funds TRYON CONCERT ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds St Lukes Hospital ↗
  • Who funds PISGAH LEGAL SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds E POLK 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 Community Foundat…Dogwood Health TrustGateway Wellness Foun…Carolina Foothills Fo…Community Foundation …Marjorie M & Lawrence…Charles Stewart Mott …The Dobbs Family Char…J M Smith FoundationThe Cannon Foundation…The Holl FoundationThe Plume Family Foun…
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina IncNC37.2× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · Dogwood Health Trust · Gateway Wellness Foundation · Carolina Foothills Foundation · Community Foundation of Henderson County Inc · Marjorie M & Lawrence R Bradley Endowment Fund · Charles Stewart Mott Foundation · The Dobbs Family Charitable Foundation Trust Agreement · J M Smith Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · The Holl Foundation · The Plume Family 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 Polk County Community Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Polk County Community Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Polk County Community Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Polk County Community Foundation Inc 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 63 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Polk County’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