North Carolina · Nonprofit
Sustain Charlotte Inc
Sustain Charlotte Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,696,935 to it, the largest being Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC ($258,200). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $717k
- Funders on record
- 36
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $924k
What Sustain Charlotte Inc does
Mission
Sustain Charlotte's mission is to create a more equitable, connected, and healthy community by inspiring responsible growth and transportation choices.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Sustain Charlotte informs, engages, and empowers residents to tackle the complex sustainability challenges resulting from the regions rapid population growth. We achieve this by creating meaningful opportunities for residents to voice their opinions and advocate for decisions that shape their future; providing accessible, up-to-date information through our website, weekly newsletter, and social media channels; hosting educational and inspiring events that foster community connection and learning; collaborating closely with the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County; partnering with over 100 community organizations to amplify our collective impact; and offering volunteer opportunities for individuals passionate about sustainability.
$438,090 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $438,090.
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 $553k to $867k (+57%).
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.
98% of Sustain Charlotte Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (62% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $67k → $368k.
6 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Sustain Charlotte Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 funders by total. 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
Sustain Charlotte Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
70% 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 Sustain Charlotte Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 75% · 2018 89% · 2019 61% · 2020 38% · 2021 46% · 2022 36% · 2023 19% — 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
32% of Sustain Charlotte Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
51% of Sustain Charlotte Inc'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. $109k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
Sustain Charlotte Inc's funding base is broadening — from 4 funders to 11 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,668 community improvement nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding Sustain Charlotte Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $30k on record.
- Environmental Protection Agency$30k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Sustain Charlotte Inc
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
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Sustain Charlotte Inc: 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 Sustain Charlotte Inc?
- Sustain Charlotte Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,696,935 to it, the largest being Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC ($258,200). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Sustain Charlotte Inc have?
- IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $1,696,935 in grants to Sustain Charlotte Inc, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Sustain Charlotte Inc?
- Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $258,200 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Sustain Charlotte Inc 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.
Play a game about who funds Sustain Charlotte →
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 36 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing