Skip to content
Wake Forest University at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education.

$162M
Granted FY2025still arriving
117
Grants FY2025still arriving
38
States reached
$1.3M
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.

Science & Tech$21MHealth$9.7MArts & Culture$6.3MEducation$4.0MReligion$1.1MCommunity Improvement$519kHuman Services$271kPhilanthropy$253kOther$0
02FY2025 · 117 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 117 grants below total $17,210,416, the rows itemized in this filing. The $161,601,582 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $144,391,166 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k47 grants · $1.3M
  • $50k–250k37 grants · $2.8M
  • $250k+25 grants · $13M
$50,000
Median grant
38
States reached
$3.0B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Reynolda House Inc$1,346,455
Wake Forest Univ Health Sciences$1,308,253
UNC Chapel Hill$940,591
The Regents of the University of Colorado$734,427
Brigham & Women's Hospital$603,639
Montclair State University$507,500
University of Virginia$500,000
Virginia Tech$500,000
Catholic University of America The$500,000
University of Notre Dame$500,000
Purdue University$500,000
University of Mississippi The$500,000
Arizona State University$500,000
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania$420,400
Seattle Pacific University$400,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $800k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 85% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Inspiration and Change Inc: $54k → 11%Metropolitan Charities Inc: $100k → 12%Foundations for Living: $60k → 7%Helping Everyone Receive Ongoing Effective Support: $25k → 21%Inspiration and Change Inc: $25k → 11%Metropolitan Charities Inc: $100k → 12%Senior Services Inc: $10k → 15%Foundations for Living: $50k → 7%Miracle of Love Inc: $50k → 13%Hight Impacto Inc: $45k → 13%Foundations for Living: $10k → 7%Miracle of Love Inc: $25k → 13%Hight Impacto Inc: $25k → 13%Freedom Center for Social Justice: $75k → 10%Miracle of Love Inc: $25k → 13%Miracle of Love Inc: $25k → 13%Afiya Center: $25k → 14%YMCA of Northwest NC: $66k → 15%YWCA of Winston-Salem: $5k → 15%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

NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$31M · 86 repeat orgs$9.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

86 repeat relationships: 49 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 62 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

86
73

Total granted

$31M
$2.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+13%

Still filing today

64%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.8M 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
EducationHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureReligionCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • WF
    WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
    7× · 2019–2025 · $6.9M · revenue +64%
  • RH
    REYNOLDA HOUSE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $5.9M · revenue +5%
  • CM
    Carnegie Mellon University
    6× · 2019–2024 · $581k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • DB
    DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $229k · revenue +18%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FORENSIC ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $135k · revenue +52%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF DENVERgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $103k · revenue +33%
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
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education. The organization is comprised of seven constituent parts: Wake…

Education
3
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
4
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Western New England University

Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…

Education
7
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
8
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
9
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
10
University of the South

The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to the development of the whole person through a liberal arts education of the highest quality. The School of Theology educates women and men to serve the broad whole of the Episcopal Church in…

Education
11
Endicott College

Endicott college offers students a vibrant academic environment that remains true to its founding principle of integrating professional and liberal arts with experiential learning. for more information see schedule o.

Education
12
Texas Christian University

Texas christian university is an institution of higher education which includes nine major academic units: liberal arts, science and engineering, business, education, fine arts, communication, honors, nursing and health sciences, and the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Campbell University; the most unlike its peers is Love & Hope Fellowship Church. 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

163 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. 163 of the 229 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.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
159/163
Grantees still filing
73/163
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $6,938,653 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCESTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $867,320 · Education+70 more: $9,413,335 · Education+70 moreUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL: $3,534,506 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILLREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $1,297,423 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $1,220,071 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATEDRUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY: $590,165 · OtherRECTOR & VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $587,977 · OtherCarnegie Mellon University: $580,994 · Other+88 more: $9,079,971 · Other+88 moreREYNOLDA HOUSE INC: $5,903,811 · Arts & CultureREYNOLDA HOUSE I…NORTH CAROLINA BLACK REPERTORY COMPANY INC: $220,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $243,332 · Arts & CultureINTERFAITH AMERICA: $350,000 · ReligionTHE VISION COMMUNITY FOUNDATIO: $257,143 · ReligionRESOURCE CENTER FOR WOMEN AND MINISTRY IN THE SOUTH INC: $100,000 · ReligionSAMUEL DEWITT PROCTOR CONFERENCE INC: $100,000 · ReligionLOVE & HOPE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH: $35,000 · Religion+2 more: $50,000 · ReligionMetropolitan Charities Inc: $200,000 · Human ServicesMIRACLE OF LOVE INC: $125,000 · Human ServicesFOUNDATIONS FOR LIVING INC: $120,000 · Human ServicesCOMPASSIONATE ATLANTA INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesINSPIRATION AND CHANGE INC: $78,571 · Human ServicesFreedom Center for Social Justice: $75,000 · Human ServicesHIGHT IMPACTO INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Northwest North Carolina (4626): $66,330 · Human Services+2 more: $50,000 · Human ServicesBROWN UNIVERSITY: $138,065 · Community ImprovementRelationship Unleashed: $120,000 · Community ImprovementTOGETHER FOR HOPE: $100,000 · Community ImprovementPIEDMONT TRIAD PARTNERSHIP: $90,000 · Community ImprovementFABRIC: $68,571 · Community ImprovementGREATER WINSTON-SALEM DEVELOPMENT CORP: $45,000 · Community ImprovementAbyssinian Community Services: $25,000 · Community ImprovementThe Winston-Salem Foundation: $512,340 · PhilanthropyNEIGHBORS FOR BETTER NEIGHBORHOODS: $30,000 · Philanthropy
Education$17,219,308Other$16,891,107Arts & Culture$6,367,143Religion$892,143Human Services$884,901Community Improvement$586,636Philanthropy$542,340

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $6,938,653 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetREYNOLDA HOUSE INC: $5,903,811 over 9y, 24% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $867,320 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $580,994 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA: $517,811 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Winston-Salem Foundation: $512,340 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH MISSISSIPPI EDUCATION CONSORTIUM INC: $500,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $500,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $436,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBelmont University: $400,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE COLLEGE: $400,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERFAITH AMERICA: $350,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetGEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY: $333,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $316,632 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAMPBELL UNIVERSITY: $300,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe University of Tulsa: $300,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $295,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITWORTH UNIVERSITY: $291,023 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $272,288 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $269,038 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST COLLEGE BIRTHPLACE SOCIETY INC: $260,618 over 4y, 69% of budgetTHE VISION COMMUNITY FOUNDATIO: $257,143 over 4y, 19% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $252,754 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWHEATON COLLEGE: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: $228,880 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA BLACK REPERTORY COMPANY INC: $220,000 over 2y, 8.2% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $209,738 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMetropolitan Charities Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTuskegee University: $195,161 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUS NAVAL ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $175,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetOld North State Medical Society: $166,563 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $138,065 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $134,281 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKING UNIVERSITY: $125,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMIRACLE OF LOVE INC: $125,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetFOUNDATIONS FOR LIVING INC: $120,000 over 3y, 54% of budgetRelationship Unleashed: $120,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $111,236 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF FORSYTH COUNTY INC: $110,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $103,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLD HICKORY COUNCIL INC BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $100,836 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $100,781 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESOURCE CENTER FOR WOMEN AND MINISTRY IN THE SOUTH INC: $100,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetSAMUEL DEWITT PROCTOR CONFERENCE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetCOMPASSIONATE ATLANTA INC: $100,000 over 3y, 26% of budgetUNITED WAY OF FORSYTH COUNTY INC: $93,250 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetPIEDMONT TRIAD PARTNERSHIP: $90,000 over 6y, 2.4% 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 WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds REYNOLDA HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds The Winston-Salem Foundation ↗
  • Who funds NORTH MISSISSIPPI EDUCATION CONSORTIUM INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Belmont University ↗
  • Who funds HOPE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds INTERFAITH AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds The University of Tulsa ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Yale University ↗
  • Who funds WAKE FOREST COLLEGE BIRTHPLACE SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE VISION COMMUNITY FOUNDATIO ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ↗
  • Who funds WHEATON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds DALLAS BAPTIST 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.

National Collegiate A…AIDS UnitedEmory UniversityReynolds American Fou…The Winston-Salem Fou…Twin City Development…North Carolina Baptis…Forsyth Memorial Hosp…Folds of Honor Founda…American Council of L…Foundation for the Ca…Triangle Community Fo…
National Collegiate Athletic AssociationIN33.6× affinity16 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Collegiate Athletic Association · AIDS United · Emory University · Reynolds American Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Twin City Development Foundation · North Carolina Baptist Hospital · Forsyth Memorial Hospital Inc · Folds of Honor Foundation · American Council of Learned Societies · Foundation for the Carolinas · Triangle Community 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 Wake Forest University funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wake Forest University. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Hued Songs Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
  • The University of Tulsa: 5% of income from government
  • Metropolitan Charities Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • George Fox University: 2% of income from government
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University: 2% of income from government
  • Ramapo College Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Seton Hall University: 1% of income from government
  • Wheaton College: 0% of income from government
  • Stonehill College Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Miracle of Love Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
33report 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 229 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 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 Wake Forest University’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