Underdown Family Foundation
Hickory, NC · EIN 56-1827986. Reported 67 grants totalling $271,500 to 35 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Underdown Family 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 $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $5,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $10,000. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba Science Center Inc | Hickory, NC | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Carolina Caring Inc | Newton, NC | $32,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hickory Museum of Art Inc | Hickory, NC | $18,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Habitat for Humanity of Catawba County | Hickory, NC | $16,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Habitat for Humanity of Catawba | Hickory, NC | $14,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| First Presbyterian Church | Hickory, NC | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| YMCA of Catawba Valley | Hickory, NC | $13,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Catawba County Council on Aging | Hickory, NC | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American National Red Cross | Hickory, NC | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Safe Harbor Rescue Mission Inc | Hickory, NC | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Hart Square Foundation Inc | Vale, NC | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Western Piedmont Symphony | Hickory, NC | $8,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Catawba County Partnership for Children | Hickory, NC | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hospitality House | Hickory, NC | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Rising Hope Farms Inc | Claremont, NC | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| American Red Cross | Hickory, NC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Council on Adolescents of Catawba County Inc | Hickory, NC | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Pregnancy Care Center of Catawba | Hickory, NC | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Children's Cancer Partners of the Carolinas | Spartanburg, SC | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Neighbors Network Inc | Conover, NC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Service League of Hickory Nc Inc | Hickory, NC | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina | Charlotte, NC | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Big House Family Ministry | Lenoir, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cool Kids Campaign | Huntersville, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Council on Adolescents of Catawba | Hickory, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Family Guidance Center Incorporated | Hickory, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| First United Methodoist Church | Hickory, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation of Central | Charlotte, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pregnancy Care Center of Catawba Valley | Hickory, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Williams Place | Black Mountain, NC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Catawba County Hispanic Ministry Inc | Hickory, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Safe Harbor of Nc Inc | Hickory, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Girls on the Run | Charlotte, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Shining Hope Farms | Charlotte, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Women's Resource Center Inc | Hickory, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
18 of 35 (51%) 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 67%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- Catawba Science Center Inc
Planetarium Projection System - Habitat for Humanity of Catawba
Homeownership Program - Ridgeview Community - Carolina Caring Inc
Caring for Children Battling Serious Illness - Catawba County Council on Aging
West Hickory Senior Center - Hart Square Foundation Inc
Preserving History through Education and Arts - Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina
Food for Mobile Pantry in Catawba County
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 37 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | $70,000 | $4,000 |
| 2022 | 16 | $71,500 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | 17 | $65,000 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 19 | $65,000 | $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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 99% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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 Underdown Family 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: Po Box 128, Hickory, NC, 28603. 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 56-1827986 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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