Make North Carolina First
Make North Carolina First is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based public charity that conducts research, sponsors educational activities and events, and shares information about issues affecting the state’s common good, quality of life, and social welfare. Its 2025 filing reports 17 grants totaling $4,587,500.
Make North Carolina First at a glance
In short: Make North Carolina First gave $4.6M across 17 grants in 2025 (avg $270K), mostly in North Carolina. 53% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $4,587,500
- -61.1% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 17
- -5.6% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $269,853
- -58.8% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $175,000
- Total assets
- $1,518,677
- +84.6% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 53% first-time grantees (9 of 17, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- North Carolina (86% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Make North Carolina First
- Contact
Mailing address: PO Box 648, Raleigh, NC 27602-0648
Phone: (919) 679-1776
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Make North Carolina First funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Rally NC ($915K). Together the top 10 received $4.3M.
Grant Size Distribution
61 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 13 grants of 61 (21%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The 2025 filing reports that 86% of grant dollars went to recipients in North Carolina. The remaining grant dollars were distributed among recipients in Massachusetts (8%), Arizona (4%), Ohio (1%), and California (1%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 17 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Make North Carolina First open to new grantees?
53%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 9 of 17 grantees (53%) were first-time recipients. With only 17 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 6 points. First grants averaged $211K; repeat grants $336K. How we count
Medians: $60K first-time, $226K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $1.7M (2021) to $11.8M (2024). In 2025 it made 17 grants totaling $4.6M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Rally NC Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $915,000 |
| NC Democratic Party Legal Defense Fund Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $800,000 |
| North Carolina Families First Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $600,000 |
| Progress North Carolina Action Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $525,000 |
| The Justice Project Action Foxboro, MA | Education of public on various social issues | $371,000 |
| Justice for NC Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $365,000 |
| Down Home North Carolina Greensboro, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $277,500 |
| NC A Philip Randolph Educational Fund Inc Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $175,000 |
| Mi Familia Vota Phoenix, AZ | Education of public on various social issues | $175,000 |
| NCAAT In Action Raleigh, NC | Education of public on various social issues | $90,000 |
Ready to take the next step with Make North Carolina First?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
The filing type is Form 990 (a public charity).
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $1,518,677 | $6,090,662 | $5,394,799 | $4,587,500 | 17 |
| 2024 | $822,814 | $13,275,871 | $12,781,044 | $11,782,500 | 18 |
| 2023 | $327,987 | $2,884,143 | $2,891,849 | $2,584,769 | 9 |
| 2022 | $335,693 | $2,435,370 | $2,666,928 | $2,379,000 | 5 |
| 2021 | $567,251 | $2,002,539 | $2,056,166 | $1,702,000 | 12 |
| 2020 | $620,878 | $6,436,212 | $6,134,332 | $5,836,850 | 20 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
Make North Carolina First’s stated mission is to promote public understanding of ways to maintain and improve North Carolina’s common good, quality of life, and social welfare through research, educational activities, events, and information dissemination. Its 2024 filing says its educational work addressed North Carolina’s education system, environmental issues, voter registration, and voter representation.
The organization’s website describes support for research and public education related to high-quality public education and economic opportunity, as well as work to encourage civic participation and government accountability. It says educational and public-awareness activities are nonpartisan and intended to present relevant facts fully and fairly.
Grantees’ own descriptions show support for a range of civic and public-education work. Progress North Carolina Action says it conducts research and educational activities to promote public understanding of North Carolina’s common good and quality of life. Justice for NC describes its work as research and education concerning the state’s justice system. Down Home NC says it engages and educates low-income communities in rural areas and small towns. Other 2025 grantees describe work that includes voter education and registration, civic engagement, community organizing, and public education.
Grantmaking
In 2025, Make North Carolina First reported 17 grants totaling $4,587,500. Grants ranged from $20,000 to $915,000, with a median of $175,000. The stated purpose for the largest listed grants was education of the public on various social issues.
Among the 2025 grants, Rally NC received $915,000, the NC Democratic Party Legal Defense Fund received $800,000, North Carolina Families First received $600,000, and Progress North Carolina Action received $525,000. Other grants included $371,000 to The Justice Project Action, $365,000 to Justice for NC, and $277,500 to Down Home North Carolina. The filing also lists grants of $175,000 each to NC A Philip Randolph Educational Fund and Mi Familia Vota.
The organization says it monitors grant activities through written progress and financial reports, meetings with grantee organizations, discussions of program activities, and verification that intended activities were completed.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Jay Reiff as a board member and Michael L Weisel as general counsel, secretary, and treasurer.
Make North Carolina First's 2025 filing lists 2 officers; none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Michael L Weisel
General Counsel, Secretary & Treasurer
On filings since 2020
0.5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jay Reiff
Board Member
On filings since 2022
0.5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (2)
- Former: Adam Abram (2020–2024) — Chairperson
- Former: Dean Debnam (2020–2024) — Board Member
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Make North Carolina First
How much does Make North Carolina First give each year?
Make North Carolina First gave $4.6M across 17 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $11.8M across 18 grants.
What is Make North Carolina First's typical grant size?
Make North Carolina First's median grant in 2025 was $175,000, and its average grant was $269,853, across 17 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Make North Carolina First that year got $211K on average.
Where does Make North Carolina First give grants?
Make North Carolina First gives mostly in North Carolina: 86% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The next largest state was Massachusetts (8%). The most frequent recipient cities were Raleigh, NC (8 grants) and Durham, NC (2 grants).
Does Make North Carolina First give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 17 grants with a stated purpose on Make North Carolina First's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Education of public on various social issues" (17 grants).
Who are Make North Carolina First's largest grantees?
Make North Carolina First's largest 2025 grantees include Rally NC ($915,000), NC Democratic Party Legal Defense Fund ($800,000) and North Carolina Families First ($600,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 50% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Make North Carolina First?
Make North Carolina First reported $1.5M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $6.1M.
What does Make North Carolina First fund?
Make North Carolina First’s stated mission is to promote public understanding of ways to maintain and improve North Carolina’s common good, quality of life, and social welfare through research, educational activities, events, and information dissemination. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Make North Carolina First?
Make North Carolina First has no public application process in the sources Grantable reviewed. Contact the foundation directly before submitting a request.
What is Make North Carolina First's EIN?
Make North Carolina First's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 46-3981642. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS July 15, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS July 15, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS July 6, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS July 10, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS June 10, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS June 30, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Make North Carolina First's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Make North Carolina First funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 13, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/make-north-carolina-first-morg_42c382cc20844d1b9b88b451a186b189
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_463981642_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Make North Carolina First funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/make-north-carolina-first-morg_42c382cc20844d1b9b88b451a186b189},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-13. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Make North Carolina First's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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