Tri-County Telephone Foundation
Belhaven, NC · EIN 56-1742130. Reported 71 grants totalling $253,290 to 50 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Tri-County Telephone 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $471 and $5,000; the smallest was $65 and the largest $19,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (19) Scholarships | Belhaven, NC | $29,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pungo Christian Academy | Belhaven, NC | $24,439 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Wilkinson Community Event Center | Belhaven, NC | $23,485 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Coastal Pregnancy Center | Washington, NC | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| (16) Scholarships | Belhaven, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Open Door Community Center | Washington, NC | $13,300 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Terra Ceia Christian School | Pantego, NC | $11,015 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Northside High School | Pinetown, NC | $10,250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bath High School Preservation | Bath, NC | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Beaufort County Community College Small Business Center | Washington, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Beaufort County Cooperative Extension | Washingtion, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| St Thomas Episcopal Church | Bath, NC | $6,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Beaufort County United Way Safe Harbor Helpline | Washington, NC | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Blind Center | Washingtion, NC | $5,275 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Pantego Fire Department | Pantego, NC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| (6) Scholarships | Belhaven, NC | $4,950 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Northeast Elementary School | Pikeville, NC | $4,400 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| (5) Scholarships | Belhaven, NC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Northside Booster Club | Pinetown, NC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Washington High School Diamond Club | Washingtion, NC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Washington Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Bright Future | Washingtion, NC | $3,024 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Beaufort County Pantego Community Center | Pantego, NC | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children | Washington, NC | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Beaufort County Community College Foundation | Washington, NC | $2,950 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Safe Harbor Helpline | Washington, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Old Ford Volunteer Fire Department | Washington, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Town of Belhaven | Belhaven, NC | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Washingtonbeaufort County Chamber of Commerce | Washington, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ruth's House | Washington, NC | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Belhaven Pantego Rotary Club | Belhaven, NC | $1,080 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Hyde County Hotline Inc | Engelhard, NC | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Nc Black Bear Festival Inc | Plymouth, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Washingtonbeaufort County Chamber of Commerce Foundation | Washington, NC | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ingalls Printing | Washington, NC | $927 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Belhavenpantego Rotary Club Foundation Co First Bank | Belhaven, NC | $920 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Bath Fest | Bath, NC | $600 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bccc Foundation | Washingtion, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Blackbeard District Boy Scouts of America | Kinston, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Darleen's Flamingo 5K | Belhaven, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| East Carolina Council Boy Scouts of America | Kinston, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Shepard Cancer Center Development Council | Washington, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Washington Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce | Washingtion, NC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Beaufort County Emergency Services Kids Safety Expo | Washington, NC | $350 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Heather Brock Benefit Co Evan Woolard | Bath, NC | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tee Cup Farms Trail Ride | Pantego, NC | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Beaufort County Swcd | Washingtion, NC | $195 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Keyzar Catering | Pantego, NC | $180 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Pantego Vol Fire Dept | Pantego, NC | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Asbury Methodist Church | Washington, NC | $75 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| United Methodist Retirement Homes Foundation | Durham, NC | $75 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
17 of 50 (34%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 28%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
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.
- (6) Scholarships
EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPSEDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 26 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 19 | $54,844 | $500 |
| 2021 | 9 | $33,776 | $4,000 |
| 2022 | 17 | $38,611 | $1,500 |
| 2023 | 15 | $69,375 | $1,485 |
| 2024 | 11 | $56,684 | $2,500 |
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
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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in North Carolina.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Tri-County Telephone Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 91, Belhaven, NC, 27810. 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 56-1742130 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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