Funders › North Carolina

Wren Foundation Inc

Siler City, NC · EIN 56-6063055. Reported 126 grants totalling $794,340 to 53 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$794,340granted, 2021-2025
53recipients, as named on its returns
63%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,004,323assets, 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. Wren 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 $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $67,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
26 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
60 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
17 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
14 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Unc Health FoundationChapel Hill, NC$240,000552025
Mary Baldwin UniversityStaunton, VA$70,000332025
Mary Baldwin CollegeStanton, VA$50,000222022
Boys & Girls Club of Central CarolinaSiler City, NC$39,500552025
Independent College Fund of NcRaleigh, NC$38,140552025
Town of Siler CitySiler City, NC$30,000112022
Town of Siler City Aquatic CenterSiler City, NC$30,000112021
Christ SchoolArden, NC$28,500442025
Chatham County Economic Development CorpPittsboro, NC$25,000552025
Childrens Home Society of NcGreensboro, NC$25,000332023
Nc Arts IncubatorSiler City, NC$20,000222024
Nc Arts IncubatorSiler City, ND$20,000112023
Chatham County Dss Foster Children's FundPittsboro, NC$15,000552025
Jordan Matthews High SchoolSiler City, NC$15,000112022
Unc Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer CtrBox, NC$15,000112021
Chatham County Literacy CouncilPittsborough, NC$12,750552025
Jordan Matthews Arts FoundationSiler City, NC$12,650552025
Chatham Cares Community PharmacySiler City, NC$12,500332023
Jordan Matthews High School - FFASiler City, NC$10,500222024
High Point UniversityHigh Point, NC$8,000552025
Woodberry Forest School - the Amici FundWoodberry Forest, VA$7,500332024
Children's Home Society of NcGreensboro, NC$7,400222025
Salem AcademySalem, OR$7,000332025
Wren Memorial LibrarySiler City, NC$6,000552025
Central Carolina Community College Foundation IncSandford, NC$5,000442025
Wren Foundation ScholarshipSiler City, NC$5,000112024
Hope for HemiplegiaChapel Hill, NC$3,000112024
NcicuRaleigh, NC$3,000112024
Samaritan's PurseBoone, NC$3,000112024
The Salvation ArmyPittsboro, NC$3,000332023
United Way of Chatham CountyPittsboro, NC$3,000222022
Siler Area ChamberSiler City, NC$2,500112024
Salem AcademyWinston Salem, NC$2,500112021
Siler City Development OrganizationSiler City, NC$2,500112021
American Red CrossBoone, IA$2,000222022
Marine Toys for Tots FoundationDr Triangle, VA$1,500332023
National Fire Safety CouncilMichigan Center, MI$1,500552025
Siler City Rotary Charitable FundSiler City, NC$1,500112022
CareAtlanta, GA$1,250222024
Siler City Prebyterian ChurchSiler City, NC$1,000112024
Siler City Presbyterian ChurchSiler City, NC$1,000112021
The Triad Health ProjectGreensboro, NC$1,000552025
Unc CharlotteCharlotte, NC$1,000112023
Unc GreensboroGreensboro, NC$1,000112023
Bonlee Recreation Park IncBonlee, NC$750222022
Chatham TradeSiler City, NC$500112021
Jordan-Matthews FFASiler City, NC$500112022
Rocky River Heritage FoundationPittsboro, NC$500112023
Sandhills Community CollegePinehurst, NC$500112021
West Chatham 12 UPittsboro, NC$500112024
40 & 8 Voiture - Nurses Training ScholarsLeland, NC$200222024
Siler City Lions ClubSiler City, NC$100112024
Webb SquaredPittsboro, NC$100112023

29 of 53 (55%) 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 63%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 51 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.

Education
25 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Public Safety & Disaster Relief
5 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
Health Care
3 grants
International Affairs
2 grants
Recreation & Sports
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202130$220,075$2,500
202225$156,725$1,875
202327$165,220$2,000
202428$166,120$2,900
202516$86,200$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

80% of its giving went to organizations in North Carolina. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

North Carolina
$634K
Virginia
$129K
North Dakota
$20K
Oregon
$7K
Iowa
$2K
Michigan
$2K
Georgia
$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 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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund13 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc12 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc11 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation10 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program9 shared recipientsTriangle Community Foundation Inc9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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 groupFoundations funding education in VirginiaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Wren Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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 447, Siler City, NC, 27344. 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 56-6063055 · 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.

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