North Carolina · Nonprofit
Charlotte Sports Foundation
Charlotte Sports Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $576,457 to it, the largest being CHAMPIONS FOR EDUCATION INC ($250,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $576k
- Net assets
- $19M
What Charlotte Sports Foundation does
Mission
The Charlotte Sports Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization created in 2013 to provide leadership for sports-based initiatives that enhance the economy and quality of life in the Charlotte region. We provide unique events and business opportunities around professional, collegiate and amateur sporting events. Our efforts are intended to create a positive economic impact in the region as well as to enhance the quality of life.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
CSE was formed to foster national amateur sports competition in the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area and for other charitable purposes, including, but not limited to, maximizing the positive impact of the area's economy, national image and community pride by organizing and operating the neutral-site game ("NSG "NSG Event"), Jumpman Invitational ("Jumpman "Jumpman Event"), and Ally Tipoff ("Ally Tipoff Event") sanctioned by the NCAA. The 2023 NSG Event was held on September 2, 2023 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams were University of South Carolina and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The 2022 NSG Event was held on September 3, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams were North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and North Carolina Central University. The 2023 Jumpman Event was held on December 19, 2023 and December 20, 2023 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams were University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, University of Oklahoma and the University of Florida. The 2022 Jumpman Event was held on December 20, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating…
$13,975,234 spentof which $10,132,016 as grants$9,256,742 earned by the program70% of program spendingCCFB was formed to foster national amateur sports competition in the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area and for other charitable purposes, including, but not limited to, maximizing the positive impact of the area's economy, national image and community pride by organizing and operating a Football Bowl Subdivision college football game (the "CCFB Event") sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (the "NCAA"). The CCFB Event is generally presented in December of each year and is sponsored by a primary or title sponsor (the "CCFB Title Sponsor"). The CCFB Title Sponsor for the 2023 and 2022 CCFB Events was Duke's Mayonnaise. The 2023 and 2022 CCFB Events were held on December 27, 2023 and December 30, 2022, respectively, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams in the 2023 Event were University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and West Virginia University. The participating teams in the 2022 Event were University of Maryland and North Carolina State University.
$4,610,774 spentof which $4,100,000 as grants$5,781,357 earned by the program23% of program spendingCCF was formed to foster national amateur sports competition in the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg County area and for other charitable purposes, including, but not limited to, maximizing the positive impact on the area's economy, national image and community pride by organizing and operating the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship Game (the "CCF Event"). The 2023 Event was held on December 2, 2023 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams were University of Louisville and the Florida State University. The 2022 Event was held on December 3, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The participating teams were Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
$1,415,290 spent$1,529,118 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $20,001,298.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $6.1M to $18M (+200%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 3% · 2018 3% · 2019 4% · 2020 6% · 2021 5% · 2022 7% · 2023 6% · 2024 6% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
21% of Charlotte Sports Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (10% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $38k → $130k.
4 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $264k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Foundation for the Carolinas). These are real filings, and they are not money Charlotte Sports Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of Charlotte Sports Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Charlotte Sports Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
77% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Charlotte Sports Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 94% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2022 99% · 2023 38% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
25% of Charlotte Sports Foundation's funders are still giving 1 year after their first grant; 30% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
83% of Charlotte Sports Foundation's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $145k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Charlotte Sports Foundation has grown faster than three-quarters of the 164 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 164 recreation & sports nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like Charlotte Sports Foundation
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Charlotte Collegiate Football II LLC · disregarded
- Charlotte Collegiate Football Bowl II LLC · disregarded
- Charlotte Sports Events LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Charlotte Sports Foundation: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Charlotte Sports Foundation?
- Charlotte Sports Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $576,457 to it, the largest being CHAMPIONS FOR EDUCATION INC ($250,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Charlotte Sports Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $576,457 in grants to Charlotte Sports Foundation, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Charlotte Sports Foundation?
- CHAMPIONS FOR EDUCATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $250,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Charlotte Sports Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 10 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing