· Private foundation
The McSwain Trust
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k31 grants · $95k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| ROBBINS VILLAGE THEATER | $15,000 |
| TEMPLE THEATER | $10,000 |
| ROBBINS AREA LIBRARY | $6,000 |
| LEE COUNTY COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA | $6,000 |
| JOHN T HOGGARD HIGH SCHOOL | $5,000 |
| FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA | $5,000 |
| SALVATION ARMY | $5,000 |
| CUOC | $5,000 |
| TRIADS CULTURAL ARTS | $5,000 |
| COMPANION ANIMAL CLINIC FOUNDATION | $4,000 |
| FLOW UNIVERSITY | $4,000 |
| SAMARITAN'S MINISTRIES | $3,500 |
| THE BREAD BASKET | $3,000 |
| LEE CO SR HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA DEPT | $3,000 |
| PAWS OF THE PINES RESCUE | $3,000 |
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 (FY19–25, $47k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% 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.
38 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 7 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, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $24k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
SAMARITAN MINISTRIES7× · 2019–2025 · $47k · revenue +77%
FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC7× · 2019–2025 · $33k · revenue +48%- HHHELPING HAND CLINIC INC7× · 2019–2025 · $21k · revenue +92%
Funded once
- FCFORSYTH CO PUBLIC LIBRARYone grant, 2019 · $10k
- RVROBBIN VILLAGE THEATER AND COMMUNITY CENTERone grant, 2020 · $5k
- FOFRIENDS OF SANFORD INC - DEPOT RENOVATIONone grant, 2021 · $3k
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.
Humane Society of Charlotte mission is to champion the wellbeing of companion animals and strengthen their bond with the people who know, love, and need them.
NourishNC, Inc.'s goal is to provide healthy food to hungry children, empowering them to succeed in the classroom and in their community
Guided by faith, love, and respect, we provide food, shelter, and individualized supportive services for Haywood County residents.
The organization stands for every pet and pet owner by making the highest quality veterinary care and spay neuter services affordable and accessible, with the goal of reducing the number of dogs and cats euthanized in regional shelters and…
To provide a positive and safe living environment for hurting, abused, neglected and at-risk children placed privately and by the north carolina department of social services
Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. provides accessible and affordable health care with excellence...where patients come FIRST
Helping homeless men by providing a safe shelter and meeting their basic needs as well as address barriers related to homelessness and self-sufficiency and helping homeless men to obtain and maintain more appropriate housing.
Empowering south carolina communities and children's advocacy centers to deliver a best practice response to child abuse
Provide food, shelter, rehabilitation and christian ministry to the poor and homeless
The mission of Charlotte Family Housing is to empower working families experiencing homelessness to achieve long-term self-sufficiency through shelter, housing, supportive services, and advocacy.
To be the leader in advocating for all children to reach their greatest potential.
The mission of WNC Lighthouse Inc is Changing lives, by being a light for Christ our Lord. Our vision is To be fully devoted to Jesus Christ, by opening our arms and providing Christian services to the underseved children, adults and…
How this is measured
22 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. 22 of the 51 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
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 SAMARITAN MINISTRIES ↗
- Who funds FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC ↗
- Who funds HELPING HAND CLINIC INC ↗
- Who funds BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Children's Home Society of North Carolina Inc ↗
- Who funds BACKPACK BEGINNINGS ↗
- Who funds OUTREACH MISSION INC ↗
- Who funds SANDHILLS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds Bethesda Center for the Homesless Inc ↗
- Who funds LIMESTONE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds WINSTON-SALEM SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds BREAD OF LIFE MINISTRIES OF SANFORD INC ↗
- Who funds SANDHILLS CHILDREN'S CENTER ↗
- Who funds Triad Cultural Arts Inc ↗
- Who funds FLOW UNIVERSITY ↗
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: Duke Energy Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Truist Foundation Inc · Reynolds American Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Food Bank of Central & Eastern Nc Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The McSwain Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The McSwain Trust. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The McSwain Trust?
Find your warmest path to The McSwain Trust 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.
Play a game based on McSwain’s filings →