Polk County Community Foundation Inc
Tryon, NC · EIN 51-0168751. Reported 180 grants totalling $10.1M to 62 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Polk County Community Foundation Inc, the IRS classifies it as a community foundation (NTEE T31Z).
- How spread out its giving is. 62 distinct organizations, with 11% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 85% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $29,705. Half of what it reported fell between $11,300 and $76,388; the smallest was $5,100 and the largest $320,888. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry | Columbus, NC | $1,101,494 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Foothills Equestrian Nature Center Inc | Tryon, NC | $947,306 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Polk County Schools | Columbus, NC | $781,247 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Tryon Fine Arts Center Inc | Tryon, NC | $688,807 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Tryon Arts and Crafts Inc | Tryon, NC | $532,126 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross | Tryon, NC | $491,740 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Lukes Hospital Foundation Inc | Columbus, NC | $454,451 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Conserving Carolina | Hendersonvlle, NC | $421,115 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Lanier Library Assn Inc | Tryon, NC | $399,393 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Tryon Little Theatre Inc | Tryon, NC | $287,519 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Tryon Garden Club Inc | Tryon, NC | $249,258 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund | Boston, MA | $246,554 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tryon Painters and Sculptors Inc | Tryon, NC | $240,470 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Steps to Hope Inc | Columbus, NC | $238,024 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Upstairs Artspace | Tryon, NC | $228,661 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Saluda Community Land Trust Inc | Saluda, NC | $227,472 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Hopeful Restoration Group Inc | Little River, SC | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sunnyview Club House | Mill Spring, NC | $198,200 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Foothills Humane Society Inc | Columbus, NC | $163,805 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Polk County Government | Columbus, NC | $161,706 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Roseland Community Center Inc | Tryon, NC | $145,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Mountaintrue | Asheville, NC | $140,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | $120,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Western North Carolina Inc | Asheville, NC | $109,590 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Childrens Theater Festival Inc | Tryon, NC | $101,744 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Walnut Creek Preserve Inc | Rutherfordton, NC | $89,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Saluda Pop-Up Pantry | Saluda, NC | $87,990 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Housing Assistance Corporation | Hendersonvlle, NC | $73,057 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Lukes Hospital Inc | Columbus, NC | $63,150 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| First Baptist Church of Tryon Inc | Tryon, NC | $61,307 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation | Tryon, NC | $61,260 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Pisgah Legal Services | Asheville, NC | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Tryon Concert Association Inc | Tryon, NC | $58,100 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| E-Polk | Columbus, NC | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Young Mens Christian Association of Greater Spartanburg | Spartanburg, SC | $47,319 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Thermal Belt Friendship Council | Lynn, NC | $46,390 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Polk County Film Initiative Inc | Tryon, NC | $39,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Saluda Depot Museum | Saluda, NC | $38,992 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Go Global Nc Council Inc | Wake Forest, NC | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Saluda City of | Saluda, NC | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Habitat for Humanity | Hendersonvlle, NC | $27,160 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Saluda Downtown Foundation Inc | Saluda, NC | $27,034 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Tryon Presbyterian Church | Tryon, NC | $26,850 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Aspire Polk County a Child & Family Partnership | Columbus, NC | $26,735 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project | Asheville, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Polk County Sheltered Workshop Inc | Columbus, NC | $24,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Unity in the Community | Rutherfordton, NC | $23,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Polk County 4-H and Youth Foundation Inc | Columbus, NC | $22,270 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Unitarian Universalist Association | Boston, MA | $21,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Tryon Downtown Development | Tryon, NC | $19,700 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Champions for Wildlife | Lynn, NC | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Polk County Campus Icc Foundation Inc | Columbus, NC | $15,600 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Landrum City of | Landrum, SC | $15,100 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Saluda Senior Center Inc | Saluda, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Congregational Church of Tryon | Tryon, NC | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| District One Schools | Campobello, SC | $11,045 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Acts Legacy Foundation Inc | Ft Washington, PA | $8,780 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Development Foundation of the North Carolina Center for the Advancemen | Cullowhee, NC | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Mptheater Inc | Saluda, NC | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Polk County Health & Wellness Coalition | Columbus, NC | $7,700 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Town of Tryon | Tryon, NC | $6,695 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Shakespeare & Friends Inc | Columbus, NC | $5,600 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
42 of 62 (68%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry Inc
SUPPORT FOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION, HOUSING, MEDICAL & FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE IN NEED - Conserving Carolina
Support for land conservation - Polk County Schools
SUPPORT FOR GIFTED CAMPS, BAND PROGRAM, FIELD TRIPS, INTERNSHIPS, TEACHER CONFERENCES & EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL, COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, MENTORING & SPECIAL PROJECTS - Fence
Support for 400+ acre nature & equestrian center - Hopeful Restoration Group
DONOR ADVISED FUND DISTRUBUTION TO SUPPORT STORM RECOVERY IN POLK COUNTY - Sunny View Clubhouse
SUPPORT COMMUNITY CENTER IMPROVEMENTS & PROGRAMS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 41 of 62 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | $1,171,341 | $15,350 |
| 2022 | 30 | $1,378,460 | $18,250 |
| 2023 | 31 | $1,882,210 | $30,589 |
| 2024 | 44 | $2,596,958 | $33,531 |
| 2025 | 50 | $3,067,747 | $30,549 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
95% of its giving went to organizations in North Carolina. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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 grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $29,705 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in North Carolina.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Polk County Community Foundation Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 50 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 255 South Trade Street, Tryon, NC, 28782.
EIN 51-0168751 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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