FundersNorth Carolina

Silverback Foundation Inc

Durham, NC · EIN 83-0380210. Reported 137 grants totalling $530,950 to 57 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,000median grant
$530,950granted, 2021-2024
57organizations funded
76%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,832,928assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Silverback Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $35,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
4 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
91 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
28 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
10 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Duke Cancer InstituteDurham, NC$110,000442024
Duke Children's HospitalDurham, NC$30,000442024
Chatham County Literacy Council IncPittsboro, NC$25,000222024
Duke University - Iron Dukes FundDurham, NC$25,000222024
Folds of Honor Eastern NcCary, NC$24,500332024
Volunteers for YouthCarrboro, NC$20,750442024
Chatham LiteracySiler City, NC$20,000222022
Jewish for GoodDurham, NC$20,000442024
Museum of Life and ScienceDurham, NC$20,000442024
Durham Habitat for HumanityDurham, NC$14,500442024
Center for Child and Family HealthDurham, NC$14,000442024
North Carolina Arts in ActionDurham, NC$13,000442024
United Way of Chatham CountyPittsboro, NC$12,000442024
Meals on Wheels DurhamDurham, NC$10,000332024
Playworks DurhamDurham, NC$10,000112021
Urban MinistriesDurham, NC$10,000332024
Durham Nativity SchoolDurham, NC$9,000442024
North Carolina Museum of ArtRaleigh, NC$9,000442024
Cora Food PantryPittsboro, NC$8,000442024
Esteamed Coffee IncCary, NC$8,000442024
Chatham Education FoundationPittsboro, NC$7,500442024
Corral Riding AcademyCary, NC$6,000442024
Ronald Mcdonald HouseChapel Hill, NC$6,000112021
Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation IncNew York, NY$5,800112023
Triangle ArtworksRaleigh, NC$5,200442024
Duke Lemur CenterDurham, NC$5,000442024
Durham AcademyDurham, NC$5,000222024
Durham Jazz WorkshopDurham, NC$5,000112022
Happy Ditto IncSanta Monica, CA$5,000112024
Jordan High School Athletic Booster ClubDurham, NC$5,000112023
Interfaith Food ShuttleRaleigh, NC$4,500332023
Jason LearningAshburn, VA$4,500112024
Ronald Mcdonald House Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC$4,500222023
Seva FoundationBerkeley, CA$4,500332023
Durham Rescue MissionDurham, NC$4,000442024
Food Bank of Central & Eastern NcRaleigh, NC$4,000442024
American Dance FestivalDurham, NC$3,500442024
Special Olympics Orange CountyChapel Hill, NC$3,500222022
Community Music SchoolRaleigh, NC$2,700222023
Harper's Home NcDurham, NC$2,500112024
Durham Ballet TheatreDurham, NC$2,000222024
Durham Success SummitDurham, NC$2,000112022
Great American Songbook FoundationCarmel, IN$2,000112024
Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of the TriangleDurham, NC$2,000112024
Shriners Hospital for ChildrenTampa, FL$2,000222024
Unc Health FoundationChapel Hill, NC$2,000112022
Wonder ConnectionChapel Hill, NC$2,000222022
Carroll's KitchenRaleigh, NC$1,500112021
Duke UniversityDurhan, NC$1,500112021
Fcr (family & Communities Rising)Durham, NC$1,000112023
Kenan Flagler Business School FoundationChapel Hill, NC$1,000112021
Piedmont Farm Animal RefugePittsboro, NC$1,000112021
Ronald Mcdonald House DurhamDurham, NC$1,000112022
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs- Wonder ConnectionChapel Hill, NC$1,000112023
The Mast Cell Disease SocietySterling, MA$1,000112021
Wonder ConnectionCalabasas, CA$1,000112024
Nasher Mueseum of Arts at Duke UniversityDurham, NC$500112024

35 of 57 (61%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 76%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 81 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
23 grants
Education
21 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
9 grants
Food & Nutrition
7 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Crime & Legal
4 grants
Human Services
4 grants
International Affairs
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202133$138,250$2,500
202235$134,500$2,000
202334$125,000$2,000
202435$133,200$2,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 95% of this one's giving went to organizations in North Carolina. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

North Carolina
$505K
California
$10K
New York
$6K
Virginia
$4K
Florida
$2K
Indiana
$2K
Massachusetts
$1K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund27 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc24 shared recipientsTriangle Community Foundation Inc23 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc23 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program16 shared recipientsDuke Energy Foundation15 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in North Carolina.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in North CarolinaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Silverback Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 115 Morris Street Unit 2702, Durham, NC, 27701. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 83-0380210 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.