Carolina Foothills Foundation
Forest City, NC · EIN 56-1337169. Reported 76 grants totalling $3,730,203 to 64 organizations across tax years 2023-2025, 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 Carolina Foothills Foundation, the IRS classifies it under human services rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE P74Z) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 64 distinct organizations, with 9% 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. 6% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 2 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below 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 $25,000. Half of what it reported fell between $22,500 and $50,000; the smallest was $7,000 and the largest $288,300. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out of the Ashes Inc | Forest City, NC | $325,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Forest City Fire Rescue | Forest City, NC | $313,300 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rutherfordton Fire & Rescue | Rutherfordton, NC | $275,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| City of Saluda North Carolina | Saluda, NC | $225,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rutherford Lifeservices Inc | Spindale, NC | $206,895 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Yokefellow Service Center | Spindale, NC | $185,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Polk County Council on Aging Inc | Columbus, NC | $170,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity Inc | Rutherfordton, NC | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Grahamtown Team | Forest City, NC | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rutherford County Sheriff's Office | Rutherfordton, NC | $118,716 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford | Forest City, NC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Polk County Health and Human Services Agency- Senior Services | Columbus, NC | $83,500 | 3 | 2 | 2025 |
| Chase Corner United Methodist Ministries | Henrietta, NC | $78,519 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Together Each Achieves More Nc | Forest City, NC | $71,873 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rutherford Outdoor Coalition Inc | Rutherfordton, NC | $67,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pisgah Legal Services | Asheville, NC | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pilgrims Pathway House of Refuge | Spindale, NC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| South Mountains Christian Youth Camp | Bostic, NC | $49,100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach Inc | Lake Lure, NC | $48,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Basics Christian Ministries Inc | Cliffside, NC | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Saluda Pop-Up Pantry | Saluda, NC | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Share Thy Bread | Tryon, NC | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Polk County Film Initiative Inc | Tryon, NC | $39,040 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Union Mills Learning Center Inc | Union Mills, NC | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kidsenses Inc | Rutherfordton, NC | $29,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Safe Kids Rutherford County Inc | Spindale, NC | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bills Creek Volunteer Fire Department | Lake Lure, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bostic Volunteer Fire Departm | Bostic, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Champions for Wildlife | Lynn, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Chimney Rock Volunteer Fire Department Inc | Chimney Rock, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cliffside Area Fire Department Inc | Cliffside, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cherry Mtn Vol Fire Departmen | Bostic, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ellenboro Volunteer Fire Department Inc | Ellenboro, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Green Creek Volunteer Fire Rescue Inc | Columbus, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Green Hill Volunteer Fire Department | Rutherfordton, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Higher Academia Corporation | Columbus, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hudlow Fire Dept | Forest City, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lake Lure Fire Department | Lake Lure, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mill Spring Volunteer Fire De | Mill Spring, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Saluda Volunteer Fire & Rescue Inc | Saluda, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sandy Mush Volunteer Fire Department Inc | Forest City, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Shiloh Danieltown Oakland Volunteer Fire Department Inc | Forest City, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Shingle Hollow Fire Dept | Rutherfordton, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sunny View Fire and Rescue Inc | Mill Spring, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry | Columbus, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Town of Columbus Fire Department Inc | Columbus, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Town of Spindale - Fire Rescu | Spindale, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tryon Fire Department | Tryon, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Unity in the Community | Rutherfordton, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation Inc | Forest City, NC | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Leaders & Entrepreneurs for the Advancement & Promotion of Girls | Forest City, NC | $22,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pavillon International | Mill Spring, NC | $21,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blue Ridge Hope | Forest City, NC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Lukes Hospital Foundation Inc | Columbus, NC | $19,965 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Family Resources of Rutherford County Inc | Forest City, NC | $16,795 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tryon Arts and Crafts Inc | Tryon, NC | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Isothermal Community College Foundation Inc | Spindale, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New Beginning Soup Kitchen Grba | Rutherfordton, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tryon Seventh-Day Adventist Church | Charlotte, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Washburn Community Outreach Center | Bostic, NC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dreaming Stone Arts and Ecology Center | Rutherfordton, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mosaic Hope | Union Mills, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Source Outreach Center & Loving Arms Ministry | Forest City, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Young Mens Christian Association of Greater Spartanburg | Spartanburg, SC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
9 of 64 (14%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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.
- Town of Forest City
TO FUND THE ORGANIZATION'S CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - Yokefellow
To fund the charitable activities
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 46 of 64 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 41 | $2,482,203 | $26,000 |
| 2024 | 25 | $720,000 | $25,000 |
| 2025 | 10 | $528,000 | $40,000 |
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
100% 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.
Down to the city
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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 $25,000 -- 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 Carolina Foothills Foundation'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 0 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 10 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: 376 Hudlow Road, Forest City, NC, 28043.
EIN 56-1337169 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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