Skip to content
The Eshelman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Eshelman 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.

$107k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$30k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$623kEnvironment$365kEducation$345kYouth Development$278kHuman Services$217kFood & Nutrition$110kCrime & Legal$92kArts & Culture$45kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $78k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$46k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CAROUSEL CENTER INC$30,000
PHOENIX EMPLOYMENT SERVICES OF WILMINGTON INC$15,000
COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR INC$12,500
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT WILMINGTON$10,000
BROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMY$10,000
COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BRUNSWICK COUNTY$7,500
COASTAL HORIZONS CENTER INC$7,500
EDUCATION WITHOUT WALLS$6,000
NATIONAL SOCIETY TO PREVENT BLINDNESS NORTH CAROLI$5,000
THE WILMINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC$3,000
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 (FY17–25, $291k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $12k → 12%BOYS AND GIRLS HOME OF NORTH CAROLINA INC: $25k → 21%BOYS AND GIRLS HOME OF NORTH CAROLINA INC: $20k → 21%SAMARAS VILLAGE: $10k → 9%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $10k → 12%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $10k → 12%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $10k → 12%SAMARAS VILLAGE: $5k → 9%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $6k → 12%COASTAL THERAPEUTIC RIDING PROGRAM: $5k → 12%LOWER CAPE FEAR HOSPICE INCORPORATED: $25k → 12%LOWER CAPE FEAR HOSPICE INCORPORATED: $25k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR INC: $25k → 12%LOWER CAPE FEAR HOSPICE INCORPORATED: $20k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR INC: $20k → 12%LOWER CAPE FEAR HOSPICE INCORPORATED: $20k → 12%LOWER CAPE FEAR HOSPICE INCORPORATED: $18k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR INC: $13k → 12%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CAPE FEAR INC: $13k → 12%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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 34 repeat orgs$198k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +78% since the first grant, against +43% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 24 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
15

Total granted

$2.1M
$198k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+78%
+43%

Still filing today

82%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentEmploymentOther
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

  • WH
    WELCOME HOME ANGEL INC
    5× · 2017–2024 · $360k · revenue +686% · 32% of their budget
  • TC
    The Carousel Center Inc
    6× · 2017–2025 · $185k · revenue +162%
  • KM
    KIDS MAKING IT INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $138k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • NH
    NEW HANOVER REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $30k · revenue +147%
  • CF
    CAPE FEAR CLINIC INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +182%
  • SM
    ST MARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $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
Cape Fear Academy

To operate a private school for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in Wilmington, NC

Education
2
Wilmington School of the Arts

Wilmington School of the Arts is a tuition-free, public charter school located in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Its mission is to inspire students to pursue excellence in academics and the arts by awakening and nuturing the creative…

Education
3
Carolina Charter Academy

Operation of a public charter school.

Education
4
Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence Found ation
Health
5
Children's Home Society of North Carolina Inc

The Children's Home Society of North Carolina's mission is to promote the right of every child to a permanent, safe, and loving family.

Human Services
6
Wilmington Education Organization

Public K-8 charter school located in New Hanover County, providing tuition-free education to the public and open to all residents of North Carolina.

Education
7
Cape Fear Tutoring Inc

To promote quality nutrition and reduce food insecurities through financial and educational support in Family childcare homes and Day Care centers, while maintaining Child and Adult Care Food Program integrity.

—
8
Communities in Schools of Northwest North Carolina

The organization provides assistance to youth in Wilkes, Ashe, Alleghany and Alexander counties in North Carolina who are identified as candidates for dropping out of school.

—
9
Hope Harbor Home Inc

Hope Harbor Home strives to break the cycle of domestic and sexual violence in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

—
10
Cape Fear Montessori Village Inc

Cape Fear Montessori Village operates the Island Montessori Charter School, a K-8 public charter elementary school committed to enabling children to learn and grow at their own pace by offering a developmentally appropriate and challenging…

Education
11
The Children's Center of Western North Carolina

At The Childrens Center of Western North Carolina (TCC), we are dedicated to creating an inclusive, playful, and nuturing environment where children can grow and learn together in acceptance of one another.

Human Services
12
Big BrothersBig Sisters of Wnc Inc

Match mentoring volunteers with children in need to build and foster relationships.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Autism Society of North Carolina Inc; the most unlike its peers is Masonboroorg. 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

41 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. 41 of the 49 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/41
Grantees still filing
35/41
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WELCOME HOME ANGEL INC: $360,000 · EnvironmentWELCOME HOME ANGE…+1 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentThe Carousel Center Inc: $185,000 · HealthThe Carousel Cent…Coastal Horizons Center Inc: $52,380 · HealthCoastal Horizons …ST MARY DENTAL CLINIC CORP: $50,000 · HealthST MARY DENTAL CL…Oasis NC: $35,000 · HealthOasis NCNEW HANOVER REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · HealthNEW HANOVER REGIO…+1 more: $4,000 · HealthBRIGADE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $100,000 · OtherBRIGADE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INCBoys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina Inc: $40,000 · OtherBoys & Girls Clubs of Southeas…THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $37,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLI…NATIONAL SOCIETY TO PREVENT BLINDNESS NORTH CAROLI: $32,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS CAPE FEAR CHAPTER: $22,500 · OtherNourishNC Inc: $65,000 · OtherNourishNC IncBROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMY: $34,500 · OtherBROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMYWilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry Inc: $30,000 · OtherGood Shepherd Ministries of Wilmington Inc: $27,500 · OtherEducation Without Walls: $27,000 · OtherCAPE FEAR CLINIC INC: $25,000 · Other+15 more: $185,191 · Other+15 moreCommunities in Schools of Cape Fear Inc: $109,500 · Human ServicesCommunities in S…Lower Cape Fear Hospice Incorporated dba Lower Cape Fear LifeCare: $107,500 · Human ServicesLower Cape Fear …Coastal Therapeutic Riding Program: $53,000 · Human ServicesCoastal Therapeu…BOYS & GIRLS HOMES OF NC INC: $45,000 · Human ServicesBOYS & GIRLS HOM…SAMARA'S VILLAGE INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesThe Hill School of Wilmington Inc: $114,012 · EducationThe Hill Sch…BEACON EDUCATION INC: $41,000 · EducationBEACON EDUCA…COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BRUNSWICK COUN: $38,200 · EducationCOMMUNITIES …UNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $27,419 · EducationUNC HEALTH F…FIRST BOOK: $26,900 · EducationFIRST BOOK+1 more: $6,000 · EducationKIDS MAKING IT INC: $137,500 · EmploymentKIDS MAKI…Phoenix Employment Services of Wilmingto Inc DBA StepUp Wilmington: $50,000 · EmploymentPhoenix E…Cape Fear Guardian ad Litem Association: $92,500 · Crime & LegalCape Fear…A Safe Place Inc: $92,000 · Crime & LegalA Safe Pl…
Environment$365,000Health$356,380Other$625,691Human Services$330,000Education$253,531Employment$187,500Crime & Legal$184,500

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 budgetWELCOME HOME ANGEL INC: $360,000 over 5y, 32% of budgetThe Carousel Center Inc: $185,000 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetKIDS MAKING IT INC: $137,500 over 6y, 5.1% of budgetThe Hill School of Wilmington Inc: $114,012 over 6y, 3.2% of budgetCommunities in Schools of Cape Fear Inc: $109,500 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetLower Cape Fear Hospice Incorporated dba Lower Cape Fear LifeCare: $107,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRIGADE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB INC: $100,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetCape Fear Guardian ad Litem Association: $92,500 over 6y, 20% of budgetA Safe Place Inc: $92,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetNourishNC Inc: $65,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetCoastal Therapeutic Riding Program: $53,000 over 6y, 13% of budgetCoastal Horizons Center Inc: $52,380 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetST MARY DENTAL CLINIC CORP: $50,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetPhoenix Employment Services of Wilmingto Inc DBA StepUp Wilmington: $50,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS HOMES OF NC INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBEACON EDUCATION INC: $41,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetBoys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BRUNSWICK COUN: $38,200 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $37,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetOasis NC: $35,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetBROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMY: $34,500 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetNEW HANOVER REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetWilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGood Shepherd Ministries of Wilmington Inc: $27,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $27,419 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEducation Without Walls: $27,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetFIRST BOOK: $26,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE FEAR CLINIC INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S CANCER PARTNERS OF THE CAROLINAS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $17,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARA'S VILLAGE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetAUTISM SOCIETY OF NORTH CAROLINA INC: $13,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILMINGTON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $11,300 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetJunior Achievement of Central Carolinas Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetRestored Souls Foundation: $7,500 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetBrunswick Community College Foundation Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM: $6,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMASONBOROORG: $5,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetMUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 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.

The Landfall Foundati…New Hanover Community…North Carolina Commun…Cape Fear Memorial Fo…United Way of the Cap…Corning Incorporated …Duke Energy FoundationDan Cameron Family Fo…The Cynthia & George …International Paper C…Novant Health IncThe Myrtle and Rt Sin…
The Landfall Foundation IncNC61.8× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Landfall Foundation Inc · New Hanover Community Endowment Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Cape Fear Memorial Foundation · United Way of the Cape Fear Area Inc · Corning Incorporated Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · Dan Cameron Family Foundation Inc · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · International Paper Company Foundation · Novant Health Inc · The Myrtle and Rt Sinclair Jr Charitable Foundation 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 Eshelman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Eshelman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 The Eshelman Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Eshelman 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 49 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 Eshelman’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