· Private foundation
The Thomas S Kenan III 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k29 grants · $82k
- $10k–50k14 grants · $169k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| DUPLIN COUNTY EDUCATION FOUNDATION | $30,000 |
| KENAN CENTER LOCKPORT | $15,000 |
| ST STEPHENS EPISCOPAL CHURCH | $12,000 |
| DUPLIN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION | $12,000 |
| DUKE UNIVERSITY | $10,000 |
| UNC- WILMINGTON | $10,000 |
| FRANK H KENAN CHAPEL LANDFALL | $10,000 |
| THE ARTS CENTER - CARRBORO | $10,000 |
| NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY | $10,000 |
| UNC - GREENSBORO | $10,000 |
| URBAN YOUTH IMPACT INC | $10,000 |
| DUKE UNIVERSITYALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT RECORDS | $10,000 |
| NC ARTS IN ACTION | $10,000 |
| ST STEPHENS EPISCOPAL CHURCH | $10,000 |
| NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN | $6,000 |
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 (FY23–25, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 33% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 6% of The Thomas S Kenan III Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 77% of the giving stays in NC; by stated purpose, 71%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.
34 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 15 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, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
DUKE UNIVERSITY3× · 2022–2025 · $56k · revenue +3%
SECU FAMILY HOUSE AT UNC HOSPITALS3× · 2022–2025 · $48k · revenue +6%
UNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC3× · 2021–2023 · $43k · revenue +0%
Funded once
- KWKNOWLEDGE WELL INCone grant, 2023 · $25k
The Chamber Orchestra of the Trianglegraduatedone grant, 2022 · $22k · revenue +212%- HMHENRY MORRISON FLAGLER MUSUEMone grant, 2021 · $15k
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 create a place of lifelong learning where people, from young child to senior citizen, embrace science as a way of knowing about themselves, their community, and their world.
Provide relevant educational and entertaining opportunities within the region that exceed customer expectations, while preserving our community's vibrant cultural history.
New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…
Uncsa foundation's primary purpose is to financially support the advancement and achievement of the students, faculty, and staff of the university of north carolina school of the arts. the uncsa foundation strives to support the strategic…
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.
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…
To receive and hold the endowment of the north carolina symphony society, inc. (the "society"), solicit additions to the endowment, safeguard assets, and expend funds for the exclusive use and benefit of the society.
Brevard college is committed to an experiential liberal arts education that encourages personal growth and inspires artistic, intellectual, and social action.
Queens university of charlotte provides transformative educational experiences that nurture intellectual curiosity, promote global understanding, encourage ethical living and prepare individuals for purposeful and fulfilling lives.
Columbia college provides educational opportunities that develop students' capacity for critical thought and expression, life-long learning, acceptance of personal responsibilty, and commitment to service and social justice.
Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.
The mission of the school is to provide outstanding legal education in a collegial and supportive environment with attention to newly emerging areas of law, particularly those related to technological development, globalization and the…
How this is measured
56 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. 56 of the 104 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 DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds SECU FAMILY HOUSE AT UNC HOSPITALS ↗
- Who funds UNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN ↗
- Who funds Duplin County Education Foundation ↗
- Who funds NORTH CAROLINA ARTS IN ACTION INC ↗
- Who funds DURHAM NATIVITY SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle ↗
- Who funds TRIANGLE RESIDENTIAL OPTIONS FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSERS INC ↗
- Who funds The Frank H Kenan Chapel at Landfall ↗
- Who funds RESCUE MISSIONS MINISTRIES INC ↗
- Who funds THOMPSON CHILD & FAMILY FOCUS INC ↗
- Who funds THE HENRY MORRISON FLAGLER MUSEUM INC ↗
- Who funds MONTPELIER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds JOHNSON SERVICE CORPS ↗
- Who funds Foxcroft School ↗
- Who funds Urban Youth Impact Inc ↗
- Who funds THE KENAN-FLAGLER BUSINESS SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds FURMAN UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds ARTS CENTER ↗
- Who funds TRIANGLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION 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.
Open a dossier: Triangle Community Foundation Inc · The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Missionpost Pmb #101 · Duke Energy Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · Duke University · North Carolina Community Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · Bertsch Family Charitable Foundation Inc · The Leon Levine Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Fox Family Foundation Inc · Randleigh Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Thomas S Kenan III Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Thomas S Kenan III Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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