Skip to content
The Howe Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Howe Foundation Inc

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
67
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$107kCommunity Improvement$90kPhilanthropy$72kHealth$56kReligion$34kArts & Culture$28kHuman Services$26kYouth Development$16kOther$0
02FY2025 · 67 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE$6,500
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY$6,000
R L STOWE FAMILY YMCA$5,000
CAROMONT HEALTH FOUNDATION$5,000
NOVANT HEALTH FOUNDATION$5,000
CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL$5,000
CHARLOTTE MASTER CHORALE$4,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GASTON$4,000
Individual grant recipient$3,000
UNC CHAPEL HILL$2,600
BELMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY$2,500
HOLY ANGELS$2,500
CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL$2,500
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GASTONIA$2,500
BELMONT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION$2,000
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 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 84% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE: $2k → 13%NOVANT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%GASTON DAY SCHOOL: $2k → 12%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $7k → 15%SAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10k → 21%VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL: $3k → 8%WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY: $8k → 12%HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $2k → 20%NOVANT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%NEW HOPE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $2k → 12%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $3k → 15%VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL: $3k → 8%WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY: $6k → 12%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $3k → 15%GENERALS REDOUBT: $5k → 12%UNC CHAPEL HILL: $3k → 13%WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $3k → 15%WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 12%BELMONT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $4k → 12%CHARLOTTE MASTER CHORALE: $4k → 10%CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL: $5k → 10%CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL: $5k → 10%CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL: $5k → 10%SEE ATTACHED: $94k → 12%SEE SCHEDULE ATTACHED: $89k → 12%CARL AND JANE SHOWALTER ENDOWMENT: $5k → 10%R L STOWE FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 12%CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 10%R L STOWE FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 12%CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 10%STOWE FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 12%CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 10%BELMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $3k → 12%CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 10%HOLY ANGELS: $3k → 12%NOVANT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GASTONIA: $27k → 12%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GASTONIA: $23k → 12%GASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $23k → 12%UNITED METHODIST AGENCY: $10k → 12%CAROMONT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%CAROMONT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY GASTONIA: $3k → 12%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GASTON: $4k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MA
MO
VA
TN
NC
SC
LA
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$321k · 56 repeat orgs$60k to everyone else

56 repeat relationships: 51 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
10

Total granted

$321k
$39k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
0%

Still filing today

32%
20%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHealthReligionHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • Washington and Lee University
    4× · 2022–2025 · $19k · revenue +75%
  • CM
    Charlotte Master Chorale
    4× · 2022–2025 · $10k · revenue +63%
  • HC
    HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $8k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue 0%
  • CA
    CARL AND JANE SHOWALTER ENDOWMENT
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
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
Greensboro College

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Education
2
Greenville College

Greenville college d/b/a greenville university empowers students for lives of character and service through a transforming christ-centered education in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies.

Education
3
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
4
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
5
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
6
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
7
Carleton College

See schedule o.founded in 1866, carleton college is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of 2,007 students located in the historic river town of northfield, minnesota. nationally recognized as the nation's top college for…

Education
8
Brevard College Corporation

Brevard college is committed to an experiential liberal arts education that encourages personal growth and inspires artistic, intellectual, and social action.

Education
9
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
10
Gordon College

Gordon college strives to graduate men & women distinguished by (continued on schedule o) (continuation) intellectual maturity and christian character, committed to lives of service and prepared for leadership worldwide.

Education
11
Westminster College

The mission of westminster college is to help students develop competencies, commitments, and characteristics which have distinguished human beings at their best. see continuation on schedule o.the liberal arts tradition is the foundation…

Education
12
Wellesley College

To provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Holy Angels Inc; the most unlike its peers is Belmont Central Elementary School Pto 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

30 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. 30 of the 83 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/30
Grantees still filing
11/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GASTONIA: $49,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GASTONIANOVANT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherCAROLINA THREAD TRAIL: $15,000 · OtherWAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $14,000 · OtherCAROMONT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $11,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $10,400 · OtherR L STOWE FAMILY YMCA: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · Other+56 more: $138,250 · Other+56 moreWashington and Lee University: $18,500 · EducationWashington and Le…CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $10,000 · EducationCHARLOTTE COUNTRY…HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $8,000 · EducationHAMPDEN-SYDNEY CO…Davidson College: $6,000 · EducationDavidson CollegeWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $5,500 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVE…SWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $4,000 · EducationSWEET BRIAR INSTI…Williams College: $4,000 · EducationWilliams CollegeBELMONT CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTO INC: $4,000 · EducationBELMONT CENTRAL E…+2 more: $2,800 · EducationGASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $22,500 · PhilanthropyCharlotte Master Chorale: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTHE GENERALS REDOUBT: $6,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA CAROLINA: $4,000 · Arts & CultureSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10,000 · ReligionYOUNG LIFE: $2,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentCHARLOTTE COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC INC: $2,000 · Health
Other$283,150Education$62,800Philanthropy$22,500Arts & Culture$20,000Religion$10,000Youth Development$3,000Health$2,000

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 budgetGASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $22,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWashington and Lee University: $18,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCharlotte Master Chorale: $10,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetCHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDavidson College: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GENERALS REDOUBT: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $5,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWilliams College: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPKD Foundation: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA CAROLINA: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBELMONT CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTO INC: $4,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetHOUSE OF MERCY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHOLY ANGELS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGASTON DAY SCHOOL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTE COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC INC: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBELMONT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $2,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetGaston County Family YMCA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPIEDMONT COUNCIL INC BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 420: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHERINE'S HOUSE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEREDITH COLLEGE: $800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGASTON ARTS COUNCIL: $500 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

  • Who funds GASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Washington and Lee University ↗
  • Who funds CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL ↗
  • Who funds Charlotte Master Chorale ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Davidson College ↗
  • Who funds THE GENERALS REDOUBT ↗
  • Who funds WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Williams College ↗
  • Who funds PKD Foundation ↗
  • Who funds OPERA CAROLINA ↗
  • Who funds BELMONT CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTO INC ↗

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.

Gaston Community Foun…Duke Energy FoundationFoundation for the Ca…Associated Foundation…The Stowe Foundation …The David Belk Cannon…The Carrie E and Lena…Albemarle FoundationDowd Foundation IncThe Cannon Foundation…The W Duke Kimbrell F…Charles & Irene Nanne…
Gaston Community FoundationNC30.2× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gaston Community Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · Associated Foundation Incorporated · The Stowe Foundation Inc · The David Belk Cannon Foundation · The Carrie E and Lena V Glenn Found · Albemarle Foundation · Dowd Foundation Inc · The Cannon Foundation Inc · The W Duke Kimbrell Family Foundation Co Julia B Singh · Charles & Irene Nanney Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
7report 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 83 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 Howe’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