· Public charity
The Golden Leaf Inc
Golden leaf's mission is to increase economic opportunity in north carolina's rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantsmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k1 grant · $9k
- $10k–50k15 grants · $441k
- $50k–250k66 grants · $8.5M
- $250k+49 grants · $152M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Mountain BizCapital Inc | $57,500,000 |
| North Carolina Department of Public Instruction | $25,000,000 |
| Wilson Community College | $13,000,000 |
| Methodist University Inc | $8,000,000 |
| North Carolina Housing Finance Agency | $6,000,000 |
| North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority | $3,116,173 |
| North Carolina Community College System | $3,000,000 |
| North Carolina Baptist Men | $2,940,000 |
| County of Robeson | $2,875,000 |
| Rowan-Cabarrus Community College | $2,225,000 |
| County of Northampton | $1,536,120 |
| County of Hoke | $1,400,000 |
| County of Halifax | $1,398,000 |
| County of Ashe | $1,385,000 |
| Town of Tabor City | $1,381,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $6.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 70% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
195 repeat relationships: 58 still active in FY2025, 137 since wound down; 73 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 28% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $115M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- RERURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC8× · 2017–2024 · $113M · revenue ×16 · 76% of their budget
- TNTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC2× · 2017–2022 · $46M · revenue +55%
- AAAsheville Area Chamber of Commerce Community Betterment Foundation2× · 2020–2021 · $12M · revenue +408% · 72% of their budget
Funded once
- NCNorth Carolina Department of Transportationone grant, 2022 · $40M
- UHUniversity Health Systems of Eastern Carolina Foundation Incone grant, 2018 · $11M · revenue -10%
- ECEdgecombe Community Collegeone grant, 2018 · $11M
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.
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.
To help all union county nc residents gain access to affordable housing, decent jobs, and to develop a sense of security.
Promoting economic and industrial development in rowan county, north carolina
The research triangle regional partnership is an association of area economic development agencies dedicated to keeping the research triangle region economically strong by collectively marketing the region's competitive advantages and…
Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. provides accessible and affordable health care with excellence...where patients come FIRST
Nourish people. build solutions. empower communities. no one goes hungry.
To promote community based primary health care systems in medically underserved areas.
To promote and advance commerce in burke county, nc
The Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce is an organization that promotes a positive business environment, community betterment and supports economic development
Providing healthcare to the underserved population of Harnett County NC and the surrounding area.
The specific objectives and purposes of this corporation shall be to assist individuals and communities, particularly those in low-income and socially disadvantaged areas, in the creation, expansion, and improvement of rural and…
WNC Health Network, Inc supports people and organizations to improve community health and wellbeing across Western North Carolina.
How this is measured
224 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. 224 of the 586 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds MOUNTAIN BIZCAPITAL INC ↗
- Who funds THE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Community Betterment Foundation ↗
- Who funds University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina Foundation Inc ↗
- Who funds CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP ↗
- Who funds METHODIST UNIVERSITY INC ↗
- Who funds THE CAROLINAS GATEWAY PARTNERSHIP INC ↗
- Who funds MCNC ↗
- Who funds BLADEN'S BLOOMIN' AGRI-INDUSTRIAL INC ↗
- Who funds Carolina Small Business Development Fund ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Cannon Foundation Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation · North Carolina High School Athletic Association Inc · Dogwood Health Trust · Patriot Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · East Carolina Health · Anonymous Trust U/A Dated 2-4-2008 · The Conservation Fund a Nonprofit Corporation · North Carolina Public Health Association
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Golden Leaf Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Golden Leaf Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Golden Leaf’s filings →