North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC
THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,490,522 to it, the largest being JOHN WILLIAM POPE FOUNDATION ($22,827,723). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.4M
- Funders on record
- 49
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $2.5M
What The John Locke Foundation Inc does
Mission
The purpose of the foundation is to conduct research, disseminate information, and advance public understanding of society based on the principles of individual liberty, the voluntary exchanges of a free market economy, and limited government. The foundation shall give priority to north carolina state public policy issues and national issues affecting north carolina.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Research - the organization conducts and analyzes research in several areas, including fiscal policy, health and human services, education, legal policy, agriculture, energy and the environment, regulation, election security, and transportation. Research efforts also include the center for public integrity, the north carolina history project, the center for agricultural innovation, and the center for effective education.
$1,336,913 spent29% of program spendingCommunications - the organization's mission and objectives is supported through mediums such as the locke website, social media platforms, and email. The communications infrastructure also includes a state-of-the-art studio designed for creating sound and video content.
$820,736 spent18% of program spendingCarolina journal - carolina journal offers daily commentary and analysis of north carolina politics and policy and is a leader in investigative journalism in the state. The outfit maintains a news media structure that includes print, digital, and radio and reaches markets state-wide.
$1,098,934 spent24% of program spendingFirst in freedom - this is a robust program area that encompasses the foundation's outreach efforts, including but not limited to: leadership programs such as the ea morris fellowship and internship program, both intended to train a new generation of leaders using free-market ideas; grassroots outreach: an effort to identify, recruit and engage grassroots leaders throughout the state; government affairs: educates elected officials and community leaders about limited government policies at the state level; as well as events such as the carolina liberty conference.
$1,310,399 spent29% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,566,982.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $6.7M to $3.4M (−49%).
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.
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.
Chief executive
Donald Bryson
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 25 funders, grant income rose $321k → $5.1M.
9 of 49 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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: $800k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Civitas Institute Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 49 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
THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 41% · 2019 51% · 2020 86% · 2021 86% · 2022 85% · 2023 85% — growing more concentrated.
“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
50% of THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
90% of THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION 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. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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.
Organizations like THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION 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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
30%
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 THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION 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 THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC?
- THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,490,522 to it, the largest being JOHN WILLIAM POPE FOUNDATION ($22,827,723). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 49 organizations giving $27,490,522 in grants to THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC?
- JOHN WILLIAM POPE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $22,827,723 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION 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.
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 49 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