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The Carson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Carson 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.

$274k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$55k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0180% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$789kPhilanthropy$86kRecreation & Sports$76kFood & Nutrition$50kReligion$47kHealth$47kArts & Culture$31kHuman Services$24kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $173k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $55k
$7,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILKES CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL$55,375
Individual grant recipient$43,600
Individual grant recipient$40,500
WILKES COUNTY SCHOOLS$32,000
Individual grant recipient$26,495
CENTRAL WILKES MIDDLE SCHOOL$20,000
WILKES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN$10,000
DENTON PUBLIC LIBRARY$9,915
Individual grant recipient$7,000
Individual grant recipient$7,000
NC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$5,000
SOUTH DAVIDSON HIGH SCHOOL$5,000
WILKES COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT$4,000
WILKESBORO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$3,200
Individual grant recipient$2,000
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 (FY17–17, $7k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $5k → 14%WILKES CIRCLES OF CARE: $2k → 19%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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 29 repeat orgs$111k to everyone else

29 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
22

Total granted

$1.4M
$96k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+76%

Still filing today

28%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
ReligionHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • WC
    WILKES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN
    4× · 2021–2025 · $72k · revenue +175%
  • SK
    SAMARITAN KITCHEN OF WILKES
    6× · 2017–2022 · $34k · revenue +35%
  • HD
    HAPPY DOG RANCH FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $11k · revenue +388%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • WC
    WILKES CENTRAL CHOIR
    one grant, 2024 · $20k
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branchesgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +46%
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
Nc Dog Rescue Organization
—
2
Humane Society of Wilkes

Promote humane care and treatment for all animals

Animals
3
Life Choice Pregnancy Center of Western North Carolina

Choosing Life over Abortion

Human Services
4
Pet Food Pantry of Eastern Nc

Pet food assistance- we distribute free pet food and contraception to animals whose owners were experiencing financial hardships.

Food & Nutrition
5
Hickory County Cares

Food distribution to the needy

Human Services
6
Wnc Lighthouse Inc

The mission of WNC Lighthouse Inc is Changing lives, by being a light for Christ our Lord. Our vision is To be fully devoted to Jesus Christ, by opening our arms and providing Christian services to the underseved children, adults and…

Human Services
7
Womens Resource Center of Greensboro Inc

To promote the self-reliance of women by assessing needs, providing services, and acting as a gateway to community resources; to seek solutions for unmet needs by providing strategic leadership through collaboration and partnerships within…

Human Services
8
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Wake County Inc

Located in raleigh, nc, the spca of wake county works in over half the state of north carolina through collaborative partnerships that save pets and help people. significant activities include: decreasing the number of animals entering…

Animals
9
Choices of Wnc Inc

We provide compassionate support mentoring and life training resources to women men and families facing planned or unplanned pregnancies We give them training in all walks of life from pregnancy to parenting helping them to make accurate…

Human Services
10
Western Carolina Rescue Ministries Inc

Provide food, shelter, rehabilitation and christian ministry to the poor and homeless

Housing & Shelter
11
Promoting Animal Welfare in North Carolina

Our main program is providing vet care to animals dropped at or rescued from the local animal shelter. This is the only service we provide and where our expenses go. We spay/neuter animals adopted from the shelter and provide vet care to…

Animals
12
Food Bank of the Albemarle

To fight hunger and poverty in northeastern north carolina.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wilkes Community Partnership for Children; the most unlike its peers is Wilkes Playmakers Inc. 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

18 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. 18 of the 54 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
15/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WILKES COUNTY SCHOOLS: $394,600 · OtherWILKES COUNTY SCHOOLSCENTRAL WILKES MIDDLE SCHOOL: $162,535 · OtherCENTRAL WILKES MIDDLE SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $90,100 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $90,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMORAVIAN FALLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $86,025 · OtherMORAVIAN FALLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $76,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientRAMS CLUB - UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL: $75,000 · OtherRAMS CLUB - UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILLIndividual grant recipient: $64,995 · Other+34 more: $315,215 · Other+34 moreWILKES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $72,000 · EducationSAMARITAN KITCHEN OF WILKES: $34,250 · ReligionOPERATION RESOLUTE INC: $21,000 · ReligionHAND IN HAND MINISTRIES INC: $9,500 · ReligionNORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $61,000 · PhilanthropyHAPPY DOG RANCH FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 · HealthWilkes Pregnancy Care Center Inc: $4,500 · HealthORANGE COUNTY RAPE CRISIS CENTER: $2,000 · HealthAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 · Human ServicesWILKES CIRCLE OF CARE INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesWILKES ART GALLERY INC: $5,500 · Arts & CultureWILKES PLAYMAKERS INC: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,354,970Education$72,000Religion$64,750Philanthropy$61,000Health$17,000Human Services$7,000Arts & Culture$6,500

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 budgetWILKES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $72,000 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $61,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN KITCHEN OF WILKES: $34,250 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetOPERATION RESOLUTE INC: $21,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $11,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHAPPY DOG RANCH FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetHAND IN HAND MINISTRIES INC: $9,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWILKES ART GALLERY INC: $5,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWilkes Pregnancy Care Center Inc: $4,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBEAGLE FREEDOM PROJECT: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBounty & Soul: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCATHERINE H BARBER MEMORIAL SHELTER INC: $2,500 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetORANGE COUNTY RAPE CRISIS CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHOMETOWN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBrother Wolf Animal Rescue Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILKES PLAYMAKERS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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 WILKES COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN KITCHEN OF WILKES ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION RESOLUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds SHARE OUR STRENGTH ↗
  • Who funds HAPPY DOG RANCH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HAND IN HAND MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds WILKES ART GALLERY INC ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds Wilkes Pregnancy Care Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds BEAGLE FREEDOM PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Bounty & Soul ↗

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 Leonard G Herring…The Stone FoundationUnited Way of Wilkes …The Health Foundation…The Winston-Salem Fou…Wilkes Medical Center…The Cannon Foundation…North Carolina Commun…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…
The Leonard G Herring Family FoundationNC22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Leonard G Herring Family Foundation · The Stone Foundation · United Way of Wilkes County Inc · The Health Foundation Inc · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Wilkes Medical Center Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 The Carson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Carson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 54 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

    Play a game based on Carson’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