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The Sycamore Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Sycamore Foundation Inc

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$63k
Granted FY2026still arriving
5
Grants FY2026still arriving
2
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$106kCrime & Legal$90kHousing & Shelter$63kArts & Culture$54kYouth Development$40kPhilanthropy$20kInternational$16kPublic Safety & Disaster$15kOther$0
02FY2026 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $55k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTER FOR CHRISTOGENESIS$25,000
PAT'S PLACE A CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER$10,000
FAMILIES FORWARD$10,000
ROOF ABOVE$10,000
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC$7,500
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 (FY18–26, $33k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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.

area typical 9%CENTER FOR CHRISTOGENESIS: $25k → 14%CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES CENTER INC: $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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$309k · 8 repeat orgs$184k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +44% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2026, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
21

Total granted

$309k
$159k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+44%

Still filing today

63%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 60% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesCrime & LegalInternationalReligionRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • CC
    CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC
    8× · 2017–2026 · $51k · revenue +118%
  • FF
    Families Forward Charlotte Inc
    5× · 2022–2026 · $50k · revenue +63%
  • ROOF ABOVE INC
    4× · 2023–2026 · $48k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • CR
    COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND VIA FFTC
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $12k
  • GF
    GREENLIGHT FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
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
Carolina Teen Center

Carolina Teen Center is a prevention and education year-round after-school and summer program that services youth and their families. Literacy programs, tutoring, life skills, mentoring, positive peer groups, conflict resolution skills,…

Health
2
Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte

The mission of Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte is repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives.We mobilize community volunteers and contractors to provide repairs that make homes safer and healthier for…

Housing & Shelter
3
Coastal Horizons Center Inc

To provide a continuum of professional services to promote healthier lives, stronger families, and safer communities.

Health
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
Avery County Long Term Recovery Group Inc

ACLTRG serves as the central coordinating hub for long-term recovery in Avery County, aligning nonprofit organizations, faith-based partners, volunteers, public agencies, and funders to reduce duplication, maximize resources, and ensure…

Public Safety & Disaster
6
Restorative Transitions Inc

Re-entry Program in Durham NC

Crime & Legal
7
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.

—
8
For Charlotte Inc

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

Religion
9
Center for Participatory Change

Igniting collective power. Transforming systems of oppression. Healing in community.

Community Improvement
10
Cleveland County Abuse Prevention Council Inc

The Abuse Prevention Council provides emergency, advocacy, counseling, education and specialized services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and homeless individuals and families.

Crime & Legal
11
Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence Found ation
Health
12
Criminal Justice Alternatives

To provide relevant information and program services to the Juvenile, District and Superior Court of Wake County, North Carolina.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is A Child's Place of Charlotte Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee 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

18 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 18 of the 30 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
14/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FORWARD PASS FOUNDATION: $48,500 · OtherFORWARD PASS FOUNDATIONThe Center for Community Transitions: $30,000 · OtherThe Center for Community TransitionsFULTON MENTORING ACADEMY: $30,000 · OtherFULTON MENTORING ACADEMYA WAY HOME VIA FOUDATION FOR THE: $20,000 · OtherA WAY HOME VIA FOUDATION FOR THECOVID-19 RESPONSE FUND VIA FFTC: $15,000 · OtherCOVID-19 RESPONSE FUND VIA FFTCIndividual grant recipient: $12,000 · OtherGREENLIGHT FUND: $10,000 · OtherNATIONAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION CENTER: $10,000 · Other+10 more: $51,600 · Other+10 moreCHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC: $51,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LI…ROOF ABOVE INC: $47,500 · Arts & CultureROOF ABOVE INCUNIVERSITY RADIO FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFamilies Forward Charlotte Inc: $50,000 · Human ServicesFamilies Forward C…CENTER FOR CHRISTOGENESIS INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR CHRISTO…Ascend Nonprofit Solutions: $7,500 · Human ServicesAscend Nonprofit S…Pats Place Child Advocacy Center: $32,000 · HealthRACE MATTERS FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE: $10,000 · Crime & LegalPROJECT13THREE: $10,000 · Crime & LegalChanged Choices Inc: $7,500 · Crime & LegalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $10,000 · InternationalUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Other$227,100Arts & Culture$103,500Human Services$82,500Health$32,000Crime & Legal$27,500International$10,000Philanthropy$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCHARLOTTE CENTER FOR LITERARY ARTS INC: $51,000 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetFamilies Forward Charlotte Inc: $50,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetROOF ABOVE INC: $47,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPats Place Child Advocacy Center: $32,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Center for Community Transitions: $30,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT13THREE: $10,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetChanged Choices Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAscend Nonprofit Solutions: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBRIDGES OF PEACE INTERNATIONAL INC: $6,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetUNIVERSITY RADIO FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetA CHILD'S PLACE OF CHARLOTTE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCLINCH VALLEY COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $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.

United Way of Greater…Foundation for the Ca…Duke Energy FoundationAlbemarle FoundationThe Marc & Mattye Sil…Merancas Foundation I…The Bank of America C…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…
United Way of Greater Charlotte IncNC21.7× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United Way of Greater Charlotte Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · Duke Energy Foundation · Albemarle Foundation · The Marc & Mattye Silverman Family Foundation · Merancas Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving 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 Sycamore Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sycamore Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Sycamore Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Sycamore Foundation Inc 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.

    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 30 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Sycamore’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