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The Harold T Southern Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Harold T Southern 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.

$425k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$250k
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.

Education$1.1MRecreation & Sports$605kEnvironment$122k
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$7.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY$250,000
SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION$100,000
NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION$20,000
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS$15,000
WINSTON SALEM TENNIS INCORPORATED$10,000
NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM SOCIETY$10,000
FURMAN UNIVERSITY$10,000
RIVERLINK INC$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $300k → 10%RAILS TO TRAILS: $7k → 14%CONSERVING CAROLINA: $10k → 12%ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS: $15k → 12%FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $50k → 15%NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $100k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $260k → 10%NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION: $7k → 14%CONSERVING CAROLINA: $10k → 12%NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM SOCIETY: $10k → 12%WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $250k → 15%NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $110k → 10%SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS: $15k → 12%NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 10%NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM SOCIETY: $10k → 12%NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $10k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 10%RIVERLINK INC: $10k → 12%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $5k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $30k → 10%NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM SOCIETY: $10k → 12%SOUTHERN TENNIS FOUNDATION: $5k → 9%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $20k → 10%RIVERLINK INC: $10k → 12%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 10%NORTH CAROLINA ARBORETUM SOCIETY: $10k → 12%FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $10k → 10%MOUNTAIN TRUE: $5k → 12%FURMAN UNIVERSITY - RICHARD FURMAN SOCIETY: $8k → 10%FURMAN UNIVERSITY - HAROLD T & MILDRED F SOUTHERN TENNIS ENDOWMENT: $8k → 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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 25% of The Harold T Southern Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 47% of the giving stays in NC; by stated purpose, 33%.

The Harold T Southern Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 13% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 8 repeat orgs$364k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
7

Total granted

$1.5M
$99k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+13%

Still filing today

88%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 38% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $265k 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
EnvironmentEducationOther
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

  • FU
    FURMAN UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2018–2025 · $820k · revenue +26%
  • ST
    SOUTHERN TENNIS PATRONS FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $140k · revenue ×47
  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $80k · revenue +56%

Funded once

  • FC
    FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +13%
  • AG
    Asheville GreenWorksgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $15k · revenue +95%
  • FU
    FURMAN UNIVERSITY - HAROLD T & MILDRED F SOUTHERN TENNIS ENDOWMENT
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
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
Catawba Lands Conservancy

As a nationally accredited land trust, we conserve and manage land for public benefit in North Carolinas Southern Piedmont. We have conserved 235 properties, totaling 17,786 acres of land. We also facilitate the creation of a 1600 mile…

Environment
2
TreesCharlotte

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

Environment
3
Trees for the Triangle

We plant native trees in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.

Environment
4
The Carolina Trust
Philanthropy
5
The South Fork Conservancy Incorporated

The mission of the South Fork Conservancy is to restore and preserve habitat along the tributaries of Peachtree Creek. We give the community access to these healthy, restored greenspaces by designing, building and maintaining nature trails.

Environment
6
Three Rivers Land Trust Inc

Protect and conserve land, natural areas, rural landscapes, family farms and historic places within north carolina's heartland

Environment
7
Naturaland Trust

Performing activities pursuant to the maintenance and preservation of natural areas for the benefit of the public

Environment
8
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards

SAWS sets standards of excellence that inspire, connect, and equip people to steward wild public lands. SAWS provides trail maintenance, restoration, construction, ranger patrols, and disaster recovery in remote and wilderness areas;…

Environment
9
Davidson Lands Conservancy Inc

The mission of the Davidson Lands Conservancy is to protect local lands and natural resources, connect lives to nature, and promote a conservation ethic. The Conservancy advances its work through four conservation programs or pillars: land…

Environment
10
South Carolina Tennis Association Inc

To develop, maintain, and promote the game of tennis.

—
11
Conservation Trust for North Carolina

Ctnc conserves land in ways that inspire and enable people to build resilient, just communities. we carry out our mission in collaboration with other conservation organizations and the communities we serve. our goal is to lessen the…

Environment
12
Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation & Development Council

To initiate actions that will improve economic conditions, enhance and/or preserve natural resources and balance land and water management activities in a widely divergent geographic area of North Carolina.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The North Carolina Arboretum Society; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the 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 17 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FURMAN UNIVERSITY: $820,000 · EducationFURMAN UNIVERSITYWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $250,000 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITYFORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC: $50,000 · EducationAPPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $300,000 · OtherAPPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITYSOUTHERN TENNIS PATRONS FOUNDATION: $140,000 · OtherSOUTHERN TENNIS PATRONS FOUNDATIONNORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 · OtherNORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION INCWINSTON SALEM TENNIS INCORPORATED: $70,000 · OtherWINSTON SALEM TENNIS INCORPORATED+6 more: $64,000 · Other+6 moreThe North Carolina Arboretum Society: $40,000 · EnvironmentConserving Carolina: $20,000 · EnvironmentSouthern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy: $15,000 · EnvironmentMountainTrue: $5,000 · Environment
Education$1,120,000Other$654,000Environment$80,000

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 budgetFURMAN UNIVERSITY: $820,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN TENNIS PATRONS FOUNDATION: $140,000 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA TENNIS FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetWINSTON SALEM TENNIS INCORPORATED: $70,000 over 4y, 29% of budgetFORSYTH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe North Carolina Arboretum Society: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetConserving Carolina: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRiverLink Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAsheville GreenWorks: $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetSouthern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMountainTrue: $5,000 over 1y, 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.

The Community Foundat…The Frances & William…Bailey Family Foundat…Duke Energy FoundationFernandez Pave the Wa…Paulsen Family Founda…Richard Eckerd Founda…Community Foundation …PatagoniaorgFoundation for the Ca…The Bank of America C…Raymond James Charita…
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina IncNC17.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · The Frances & William H Beattie Fdn · Bailey Family Foundation Inc · Duke Energy Foundation · Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation · Paulsen Family Foundation · Richard Eckerd Foundation Inc · Community Foundation of Henderson County Inc · Patagoniaorg · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–90%
    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 17 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 Harold T Southern 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