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The Cole Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Cole 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.

$525k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Science & Tech$980kReligion$193kPhilanthropy$140kHealth$56kCommunity Improvement$35kArts & Culture$20kHuman Services$15kPublic Benefit$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$19,607
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER$500,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO$19,607
LILABEAN FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY24–24, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FAMILY SERVICES OF THE PIEDMONT: $15k → 16%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 6 repeat orgs$74k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +179% since the first grant, against -3% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
13

Total granted

$1.3M
$69k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+179%
-3%

Still filing today

33%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Arts & CultureEmploymentEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesHealthOther
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

  • TN
    THE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER OF GREENSBORO INC DBA GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER
    5× · 2018–2025 · $980k · revenue +179%
  • FP
    FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
    6× · 2017–2024 · $193k
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF GREENSBORO
    3× · 2017–2020 · $60k

Funded once

  • UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue +19%
  • FS
    FAMILY SERVICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC
    one grant, 2024 · $15k · revenue -10%
  • CH
    Cone Health Healing Gardens
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
Greater Greenville Association of Realtors Inc

Providing standards, guidelines, and procedures to those members engaged in practice of the real estate profession

—
2
Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Inc

Providing leadership, advocacy and member services that foster growth and economic prosperity for our region.

—
3
Greensboro Historical Museum Inc

Together with its diverse communities, the organization collects objects and stories, connects generations, and challenges people to explore our city's past, present and future. the museum sparks wonder through bold exhibitions and…

Arts & Culture
4
Lincoln Children's Museum

The lincoln children's museum invites children to create, discover and learn through the power of play.

Arts & Culture
5
Heckscher Museum

Museum has a mission to create opportunties for everyone to experience art that broadens understanding of the past, fosters community connections to the present, and creates diverse possbilities for the future.

Arts & Culture
6
Greater Winston-Salem Development Corp

To recruit new businesses to winston-salem and forsyth county in order to facilitate growth and economic diversification in the area.

Community Improvement
7
Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville Inc

Arts & business council of greater nashville supports and promotes the arts by driving collaboration between arts and business that contribute to the creativity, vitality, and prosperity of greater nashville/the regions/the city.

Crime & Legal
8
Amazement Square

The museum's mission is dedicated to motivating children and adults of all backgrounds and abilities toward greater creativity and understanding of themselves and the world through hands-on learning.

Arts & Culture
9
Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce Inc

To serve as greensboro, north carolina's principal economic and community development organization. our goal is to strategically develop a vibrant community that creates, expands, and attracts business while advancing the quality of life…

—
10
Carolina Art Association Dba Gibbes Museum of Art

The mission of the gibbes museum of art is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality; collect and preserve the art that touches charleston; and provide…

Arts & Culture
11
Great River Childrens Museum

Great river children's museum (grcm) shines a bright light on the power of play to spark children's learning, strengthen families, and build community connections. its dynamic, interactive environments and experiences are a gateway to the…

Arts & Culture
12
Glen Foerd Conservation Corporation

Glen foerd stewards an eclectic riverfront estate for the enjoyment and educational benefit of the community. drawing from the estate's architecture, art, material culture, and history-as well as its gardens and waterways-glen foerd…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Inc; the most unlike its peers is Henderson County & Thermal Belt Habitat for Humanity. 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

12 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. 12 of the 21 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
4/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER OF GREENSBORO INC DBA GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER: $980,000 · Arts & CultureTHE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER OF GREENSBORO INC DBA GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER+3 more: $8,500 · Arts & CultureFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $192,500 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHUNITED WAY OF GREENSBORO: $60,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREENSBOROFIGHT COLORECTAL CANCER: $40,000 · OtherFIGHT COLORECTAL CANCERUNCG - Sue & Gordon Cole MBA Program Endowment: $34,834 · OtherUNCG - Sue & Gordon Cole MB…+7 more: $28,600 · Other+7 moreCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $60,417 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyFAMILY SERVICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE LILABEAN FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · HealthREACH OUT FIRST INC: $4,500 · EmploymentTeach for America Inc: $2,500 · Education
Arts & Culture$988,500Other$355,934Philanthropy$80,417Human Services$15,000Health$5,000Employment$4,500Education$2,500

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 budgetTHE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER OF GREENSBORO INC DBA GREENSBORO SCIENCE CENTER: $980,000 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $60,417 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENSBORO CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE LILABEAN FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetREACH OUT FIRST INC: $4,500 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BLOWING ROCK ART & HISTORY MUSEUM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREENSBORO INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHenderson County & Thermal Belt Habitat for Humanity: $500 over 1y, 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.

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.

Lincoln Financial Fou…Griffin Family Founda…The Cemala Foundation…Tannenbaum-Sternberge…Amg Charitable Gift F…The Allendale FundWell-Spring Retiremen…The Edward M Armfield…Moses H Cone Memorial…Hillsdale FundDuke Energy FoundationThe Griffin Endowment
Lincoln Financial Foundation IncPA21× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Financial Foundation Inc · Griffin Family Foundation · The Cemala Foundation Inc · Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation Inc · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · The Allendale Fund · Well-Spring Retirement Community Inc · The Edward M Armfield Sr Foundation I · Moses H Cone Memorial Hospital Operating Corporation · Hillsdale Fund · Duke Energy Foundation · The Griffin Endowment

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

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%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
    1get no government money at all
    5report 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 21 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 Cole Family’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