FundersNorth Carolina

The Deborah S Harris Foundation

Charlotte, NC · EIN 31-1795384. Reported 28 grants totalling $159,500 to 17 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$159,500granted, 2021-2024
17organizations funded
40%of grantees funded again the next year
$399,342assets, 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. The Deborah S Harris Foundation 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $20,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
10 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
8 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
World VisionFederal Way, WA$40,000222022
Leighton Ford MinistriesCharlotte, NC$25,000332024
World Visionwomen of VisionFederal Way, WA$20,000222024
EdifyBoston, MA$15,000222024
The Transforming Center - Scholarship FundWheaton, IL$15,000222022
Transforming CenterWheaton, IL$10,000222024
The Echo FoundationCharlotte, NC$6,000222024
The Fistula FoundationSan Jose, CA$6,000222023
Healing Hands of JoyCharlotte, NC$5,000112024
The SpringsOldeburg, IN$5,000112022
RenovareDenver, CO$4,000222024
The Springs Retreat CenterOldeburg, IN$3,000112023
The RelativesCharlotte, NC$2,000222024
Downing Street FoundationEnglewood, CO$1,000112023
Reflection MinistriesAtlanta, GA$1,000112023
Well of MercyHamptonville, NC$1,000112021
Golden Isles Leadership Foundation IncBrunswick, GA$500112024

10 of 17 (59%) 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 40%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 17 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

International Affairs
4 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Religion
3 grants
Civil Rights
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Recreation & Sports
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20215$36,000$5,000
20223$35,000$10,000
202311$43,000$3,000
20249$45,500$5,000

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. 38% of this one's giving went to organizations in Washington. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Washington
$60K
North Carolina
$39K
Illinois
$25K
Massachusetts
$15K
Indiana
$8K
California
$6K
Colorado
$5K
Georgia
$2K

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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 Fund9 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc7 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipientsFoundation for the Carolinas5 shared recipientsRaymond James Charitable Endowment Fund5 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 Washington.
  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 human services in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Deborah S Harris Foundation'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: 4725 Piedmont Row Dr, Charlotte, NC, 28210. 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 31-1795384 · 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.