Funders › South Carolina

Stephens Family Foundation

Piedmont, SC · EIN 58-6424620. Reported 43 grants totalling $372,252 to 28 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$372,252granted, 2021-2024
28recipients, as named on its returns
36%of grantees funded again the next year

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. Stephens 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.

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 $4,200; the smallest was $275 and the largest $108,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
4 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
31 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
4 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
1 grant
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
Rocco's Heartland Rescue IncPiedmont, SC$108,000112024
Rocco's Hilltop RanchPiedmont, SC$90,000112023
Rocco's Hilltop RanchColumbus, NC$60,000112022
Foothills Humane SocietyColumbus, NC$21,000222022
Save a PetForsyth, GA$18,200442024
Too Broke Girls Animal RescueLaurens, SC$13,027442024
Michael Norris Scholarship FundForsyth, GA$11,700332023
Rock on RescueForsyth, GA$9,000442024
Sandra's Rescue PupsAlbany, GA$8,000332024
Simply Grace RescueTifton, GA$6,000112023
Lake Oconee AcademyGreensboro, GA$4,000112024
Little Beans Orphan Ark RescueLaplata, MD$3,000112023
Reid RescueForsyth, GA$3,000222022
Luck of the IrishRound Hill, VA$2,500112022
Sfc VirginiaSpotsylvania, VA$2,500112024
Paws Forever HomeTifton, GA$2,000112022
Rockin R Ranch RescueKosciusko, MS$1,300112022
Best Friends Animal RescueWarwick, GA$1,250112023
Forever Changed RescuePatomac, MD$1,000112022
Labor of Love Transport RescueHorseshoe, NC$1,000112022
Middleburg Humane FoundationMarshall, VA$1,000112023
Precious Paws Rescue IncWarrior, AL$1,000112024
Rosie RescueMount Pleasant, SC$1,000112024
The Hope HighwayAppleton, WI$1,000112024
Homeward Trails Animal RescueArlington, VA$500112022
Lucky Dog Rescue RanchUvalda, GA$500112024
Miracle Hill MinistriesGreenville, SC$500112023
Diamonds in the RuffSoperton, GA$275112023

7 of 28 (25%) 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 36%, across 3 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.

Plus 11 grants to individuals totalling $561,524 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 20 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.

Animal Welfare
19 grants
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20216$14,027$2,263
202214$102,700$2,000
202312$121,025$2,750
202411$134,500$3,000

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

57% of its giving went to organizations in South Carolina. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

South Carolina
$213K
North Carolina
$82K
Georgia
$64K
Virginia
$6K
Maryland
$4K
Mississippi
$1K
Wisconsin
$1K
Alabama
$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.

Paypal Charitable Giving Fund9 shared recipientsNetwork for Good6 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc5 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund4 shared recipientsPetco Love4 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program4 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 South 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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Stephens Family Foundation'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: 245 Abenaki Way, Piedmont, SC, 29673. 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 58-6424620 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.