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The Gambrell Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Gambrell Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$800k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$14MReligion$5.2MHuman Services$4.3MPhilanthropy$2.5MHealth$2.0MSocial Science$1.8MCrime & Legal$1.7MCommunity Improvement$1.6MOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $120k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.7M
  • $250k+7 grants · $3.5M
$120,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$173M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BOYS AND MEN$800,000
LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION$650,000
HOPELAB FOUNDATION$500,000
FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS$450,000
COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG INC$399,706
BOARD OF REGENTS - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA$350,000
LAKEVIEW NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE$303,680
URBANPROMISE CHARLOTTE$230,000
THE GERMAN MARSHALL FUND OF THE UNITED STATES$217,366
UNC CHARLOTTE FOUNDATION$166,667
CHARLOTTE URBAN INSTITUTE - UNC CHARLOTTE$128,000
CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$125,000
THE CHRISTIAN MISSION$125,000
DILWORTH CENTER FOR CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY$120,000
CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATION$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, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%THE CHRISTIAN MISSION: $125k → 9%LOVE YOUR BRAIN FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 9%THE CHRISTIAN MISSION: $125k → 9%CAMP BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%CAMP BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%CAMP BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%CAMP BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%CAMP BLUE SKIES FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%YMCA OF GREATER CHARLOTTE: $400k → 10%YMCA OF GREATER CHARLOTTE: $300k → 10%YMCA OF GREATER CHARLOTTE: $250k → 10%RAIN INC: $25k → 10%RAIN INC: $25k → 10%RAIN INC: $5k → 10%DRESS FOR SUCCESS CHARLOTTE: $3k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
IL
NY
CA
CO
NE
NC
DC
GA
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$31M · 38 repeat orgs$3.3M to everyone else

38 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 19 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
22

Total granted

$31M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+34%

Still filing today

92%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.0M 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
EducationHuman ServicesHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyInternationalOther
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

  • CP
    CENTRAL PIEDMONT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $1.5M · revenue +43%
  • YM
    YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
    3× · 2020–2022 · $950k · revenue +12%
  • LN
    Lakewood Neighborhood Alliance Inc DBA as Lakeview Neighborhood Alliance
    3× · 2022–2024 · $911k · revenue +251% · 63% of their budget

Funded once

  • TB
    THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $622k · revenue +46%
  • RC
    RALLY CHARLOTTE
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue -95% · 59% of their budget
  • AS
    ARTS & SCIENCE COUNCIL CHARLOTTE/MECKLENBURG INC
    one grant, 2021 · $151k · revenue -95%
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
For Charlotte Inc

To unite the Church to transform the city through the power of the Gospel.

Religion
2
The Charlotte Center for the Humanities Inc

The mission of The Charlotte Center is to help our community flourish. We accomplish our mission by bringing people together to explore community life together through the lens of the humanities and civic imagination.

Human Services
3
Charlotte Center City Partners

Charlotte center city partners (cccp) boldly envisions and activates strategies and actions that will assure charlotte center city is a welcoming and equitable, economically vibrant, culturally rich and beloved place for all.

—
4
Charlotte Is Creative

Charlotte Is Creative develops programs and initiatives designed to break the Charlotte mold and remake it with creativity into a city that draws people in, excites them, and inspires them to invest their financial, social and creative…

Arts & Culture
5
Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence Found ation
Health
6
Charlotte Regional Business Alliance

Collaborate to promote and advance the charlotte region, creating opportunity, economic growth and prosperity for all.

—
7
The Carolina Trust
Philanthropy
8
Charlotte Works

Charlotte works serves job-seekers and businesses by providing resources to develop a skilled workforce that meets employer needs. the organization offers job-search workshops, individual coaching, networking opportunities, and training…

Employment
9
Charlotte City Market

The market at 7th street is a mission-based nonprofit that combines culinary and retail innovation, economic opportunity, and a sense of belonging. the market: 1) incubates new food and retail businesses, 2) supports economic mobility…

Health
10
Charlotte Pride Inc

Charlotte pride creates programs and activites to enrich, empower, strengthen and make visable the unique lives and experiences of lgbtq people in charlotte.

Civil Rights
11
TreesCharlotte

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

Environment
12
Community Building Initiative

The mission of Community Building Initiative (CBI) is to give people and organizations the knowledge, skills and courage to fight bias, remove barriers to opportunity and build a more equitable and just CharlotteMecklenburg. CBI envisions…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for the Carolinas; the most unlike its peers is Hopelab Foundation 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

56 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. 56 of the 69 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/56
Grantees still filing
32/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Queens University of Charlotte: $6,000,000 · EducationQueens University of CharlotteCHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $3,100,000 · EducationCHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATIONCENTRAL PIEDMONT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $1,460,000 · EducationCENTRAL PIEDMONT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUND…Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Inc: $1,377,170 · EducationCommunities In Schools of Charlotte-Meck…CMS FOUNDATION: $718,898 · EducationCMS FOUNDATION+3 more: $275,000 · EducationCALDWELL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $4,980,000 · OtherCALDWELL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHYoung Womens Christian Association of the Central Carolinas Inc: $2,085,000 · OtherYoung Womens Christian Association of the …Charmeck Family Justice Center Inc co Safe Alliance: $1,000,000 · OtherCharmeck Family Justice Center Inc co Safe…Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Inc: $500,521 · OtherUrbanPromise Charlotte: $690,000 · OtherCharlotte Museum of History: $500,000 · Other+34 more: $3,628,200 · Other+34 moreFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $1,805,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC: $510,000 · PhilanthropyThe Steve Smith Family Foundation: $150,000 · PhilanthropyPhilanthropy Southeast Inc: $115,000 · PhilanthropyYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER CHARLOTTE: $950,000 · Human ServicesCamp Blue Skies Foundation: $650,000 · Human ServicesMooresville Area Christian Mission Inc: $250,000 · Human Services+4 more: $109,596 · Human ServicesVISION TO LEARN: $500,000 · HealthHopelab Foundation Inc: $500,000 · HealthDilworth Center for Chemical Dependency: $331,152 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $225,000 · HealthATRIUM HEALTH FOUNDATION: $187,500 · Health+1 more: $6,625 · HealthAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BOYS AND MEN: $1,000,000 · Social ScienceTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $621,610 · Social ScienceLakewood Neighborhood Alliance Inc DBA as Lakeview Neighborhood Alliance: $911,040 · Community ImprovementLOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $650,000 · Community Improvement
Education$12,931,068Other$13,383,721Philanthropy$2,580,000Human Services$1,959,596Health$1,750,277Social Science$1,621,610Community Improvement$1,561,040

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetQueens University of Charlotte: $6,000,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $3,100,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetYoung Womens Christian Association of the Central Carolinas Inc: $2,085,000 over 4y, 22% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $1,805,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRAL PIEDMONT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $1,460,000 over 4y, 5.0% of budgetCommunities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Inc: $1,377,170 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetCharmeck Family Justice Center Inc co Safe Alliance: $1,000,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BOYS AND MEN: $1,000,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER CHARLOTTE: $950,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLakewood Neighborhood Alliance Inc DBA as Lakeview Neighborhood Alliance: $911,040 over 3y, 63% of budgetCMS FOUNDATION: $718,898 over 4y, 22% of budgetUrbanPromise Charlotte: $690,000 over 3y, 9.9% of budgetCamp Blue Skies Foundation: $650,000 over 5y, 55% of budgetLOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $650,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $621,610 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC: $510,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCharlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Inc: $500,521 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetCharlotte Museum of History: $500,000 over 2y, 25% of budgetVISION TO LEARN: $500,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetHopelab Foundation Inc: $500,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetFLORENCE CRITTENTON INC: $350,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetDilworth Center for Chemical Dependency: $331,152 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetInternational House of Metrolina Inc: $305,000 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetHenderson County & Thermal Belt Habitat for Humanity: $300,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetCHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INC: $251,600 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetINTERFAITH AMERICA: $250,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetMooresville Area Christian Mission Inc: $250,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCLASSROOM CENTRAL INC: $235,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC: $225,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetYoung Black Leadership Alliance: $222,570 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetTHE GERMAN MARSHALL FUND OF THE UNITED STATES: $217,366 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetRALLY CHARLOTTE: $200,000 over 1y, 59% of budgetATRIUM HEALTH FOUNDATION: $187,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE: $166,667 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetARTS & SCIENCE COUNCIL CHARLOTTE/MECKLENBURG INC: $150,900 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetThe Steve Smith Family Foundation: $150,000 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetThe Center for Community Transitions: $150,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetPhilanthropy Southeast Inc: $115,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetBoys & Girls Club of the Piedmont Inc: $55,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetRAIN Inc: $55,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE RELATIVES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Havens Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetMcColl Center for Art Innovation: $16,667 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCAROLINA FARM TRUST INC: $15,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetCENTER FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN EDUCATION: $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $6,625 over 4y, 0.1% 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.

Foundation for the Ca…The Leon Levine Found…United Way of Greater…The Presbyterian Hosp…Duke Energy FoundationMerancas Foundation I…Albemarle FoundationEquitable Foundation …The Cannon Foundation…Truist Foundation IncThe Winston-Salem Fou…The Dickson Foundatio…
Foundation for the CarolinasNC45.1× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Foundation for the Carolinas · The Leon Levine Foundation · United Way of Greater Charlotte Inc · The Presbyterian Hospital · Duke Energy Foundation · Merancas Foundation Inc · Albemarle Foundation · Equitable Foundation Inc · The Cannon Foundation Inc · Truist Foundation Inc · The Winston-Salem Foundation · The Dickson 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 Gambrell Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Gambrell Foundation. 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 69 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Gambrell’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