Morgan Creek Foundation
Morgan Creek Foundation is a private foundation based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Established in 2005 with a gift from the Yusko family, it supports local community organizations that provide educational services to help individuals achieve their potential. The foundation receives a portion of Morgan Creek Capital Management’s annual profits and states that it spends a minimum of 5% of its assets each year.
Morgan Creek Foundation at a glance
In short: Morgan Creek Foundation gave $341K across 36 grants in 2025 (avg $9K), mostly in North Carolina. 30% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $341,000
- +35.0% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 36
- +20.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $9,472
- +12.5% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $10,000
- Total assets
- $4,783,028
- +13.6% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 30% first-time grantees (6 of 20, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- North Carolina (95% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Morgan Creek Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests. Organizations must be proposed by a Morgan Creek Capital Management employee or a board member. If the Grant Committee determines that a proposed organization aligns with the foundation’s mission, the foundation contacts the organization to complete an application. Eligible applicants must have current IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Funds are for operating purposes in providing services; capital or financing uses require specific request and approval. Religious-affiliated organizations must include participants without regard to religious background or beliefs. Visual or performing arts programs must have a strong academic component, and programs emphasizing athletics are outside the foundation’s mission. The foundation does not fund organizations that discriminate on specified grounds, including age, political affiliation, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or religious belief.
- Contact
Mailing address: 301 West Barbee Chapel Road 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Phone: (919) 933-4004
Website: https://morgancreekfoundation.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Morgan Creek Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Durham Literacy Center ($20K). Together the top 10 received $165K.
Organizations only. It also paid 17 grants to individuals ($76,000), which are not listed by name.
Grant Size Distribution
151 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 151 grants of 151 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The foundation describes its focus as local community organizations. In 2025, 95% of grant dollars went to recipients in North Carolina; the reported shares for New York and Alabama were 4% and 1%, respectively, and Virginia was also listed at 1%.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 36 itemized grants.
Cities
Is Morgan Creek Foundation open to new grantees?
30%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 6 of 20 grantees (30%) were first-time recipients. With only 20 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 5 points. First grants averaged $14K; repeat grants $17K. How we count
Medians: $15K first-time, $15K repeat.
- 55% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 50% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 158% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). 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 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $223K (2023) to $341K (2025). In 2025 it made 36 grants totaling $341K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Durham Literacy Center Durham, NC | To Support HS Equivalent Instruction Program | $20,000 |
| 17 grants to individuals Recipients not named | — | $76,000 |
| D3 Community Outreach Durham, NC | Support Educational and Job Training Programs | $17,500 |
| East Durham Children's Initiative Durham, NC | To Support Early Childhood Services Programs | $17,500 |
| Empower All Inc Raleigh, NC | To Support STEAM Camp | $17,500 |
| Rhoda Raleigh, NC | To Support Mentoring Girls Program | $17,500 |
| Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA Chapel Hill, NC | To Support Y Learning Program. | $15,000 |
| Children's Literacy Project Durham, NC | To Support High School Educational and Tutoring Programs | $15,000 |
| Durham Nativity School Inc Durham, NC | Graduate Support Initiatives | $15,000 |
| Durham YMCA Durham, NC | To Support Y Learning/We Build People Programs | $15,000 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $4,783,028 | $864,515 | $352,518 | $341,000 | 36 | $342,457 | $459,639 | $216,945 |
| 2024 | $4,208,593 | $283,737 | $260,369 | $252,500 | 30 | $254,698 | $116,037 | $190,930 |
| 2023 | $3,379,920 | $206,795 | $233,601 | $223,350 | 29 | $227,828 | $101,382 | $152,198 |
| 2022 | $2,876,069 | $183,724 | $246,571 | $228,000 | 27 | $236,963 | $79,478 | $153,206 |
| 2021 | $3,476,186 | $321,227 | $295,291 | $278,000 | 29 | $286,918 | $115,635 | $169,341 |
| 2020 | $3,275,508 | $206,022 | $287,650 | $270,500 | 32 | — | $72,457 | $154,344 |
| 2019 | $3,443,176 | $1,088,407 | $283,220 | $267,093 | 31 | — | $84,824 | $128,862 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Morgan Creek Foundation reported a distributable amount of $217K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The foundation’s stated mission is to support local community organizations providing services with an educational focus. Its grants support programs including early childhood education, adult literacy, teen counseling and mentorship, and service learning. It also states that it seeks to fund organizations serving disadvantaged children and youth through academic programs that help them develop skills for adulthood and community contribution.
Examples of grantees’ work include Durham Literacy Center, whose mission is to empower Durham County residents by improving their literacy skills, and Durham Nativity School, which provides a learning experience for socioeconomically disadvantaged and at-risk boys. An individual recipient says it provides books to children and engages families and communities to promote lifelong literacy and academic success. D-3 Community Outreach describes its mission as enriching and empowering the lives of youth and young adults.
Grantmaking
In 2025, the foundation gave $341,000 through 36 grants. Grants ranged from $1,000 to $20,000, with a median of $10,000. Its largest listed awards included $20,000 to Durham Literacy Center for its high school equivalency instruction program and $20,000 to an individual recipient Primary School for its Title Wave Book Mobile. Other notable grants included $17,500 to D-3 Community Outreach for educational and job training programs, East Durham Children’s Initiative for early childhood services, Empower All for STEAM camp, and RHODA for a mentoring girls program.
The foundation’s 2024 filing states that it assisted 18 organizations and awarded 12 scholarships to graduating high school students or GED recipients attending a post-secondary educational institution who had an affiliation with a current or former grantee. These scholarships are for individuals, not grants to outside applicant organizations.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Mark W. Yusko as director and president; Stacey Yusko as director, vice president, and director of grants; Michael P. Hennessy as board member; Will Bacon as secretary; and Mark Vannoy and Taylor Thurman as board members.
Morgan Creek Foundation is led by Mark W. Yusko, Director & President on every filing since 2019; none of the 6 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Mark W. Yusko
Director & President
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Stacey Yusko
Director, Vice President & Director of Grants
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Michael P. Hennessy
Board Member
On filings since 2019
0.5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Will Bacon
Secretary
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mark Vannoy
Board Member
New on the 2025 filing
0.5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Taylor Thurman
Board Member
New on the 2025 filing
0.5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (5)
- Former: Joshua Tilley (2019–2022) — Board Member
- Former: Laura Fisher (2019–2022) — Director & Treasurer
- Former: Julie Thurman (2021–2022) — Board Member
- Former: Andrea Szigethy (2019–2020) — Board Member
- Former: Robin Butler (2019–2020) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "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 Morgan Creek Foundation
How much does Morgan Creek Foundation give each year?
Morgan Creek Foundation gave $341K across 36 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $253K across 30 grants.
What is Morgan Creek Foundation's typical grant size?
Morgan Creek Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $10,000, and its average grant was $9,472, across 36 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Morgan Creek Foundation that year got $14K on average.
Where does Morgan Creek Foundation give grants?
Morgan Creek Foundation gives mostly in North Carolina: 95% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Durham, NC (8 grants), Raleigh, NC (6 grants) and Chapel Hill, NC (3 grants).
Does Morgan Creek Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 36 grants with a stated purpose on Morgan Creek Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support.
Who are Morgan Creek Foundation's largest grantees?
Morgan Creek Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Durham Literacy Center ($20,000), D3 Community Outreach ($17,500) and East Durham Children's Initiative ($17,500), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It also paid 17 grants to individuals ($76,000), which are not listed by name. Together they received 16% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Morgan Creek Foundation?
Morgan Creek Foundation reported $4.8M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $342K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $217K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Morgan Creek Foundation fund?
The foundation’s stated mission is to support local community organizations providing services with an educational focus. Its grants support programs including early childhood education, adult literacy, teen counseling and mentorship, and service learning. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Morgan Creek Foundation?
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Morgan Creek Foundation's EIN?
Morgan Creek Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 20-3999739. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Morgan Creek Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS February 20, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS March 5, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS February 25, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 24, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS February 24, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS March 10, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS April 22, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Live grants for the work Morgan Creek Foundation funds
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Browse active grant opportunities in Morgan Creek Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Morgan Creek Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/morgan-creek-foundation-morg_3967d4b99b514c2093966824938ab47a
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_203999739_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Morgan Creek Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/morgan-creek-foundation-morg_3967d4b99b514c2093966824938ab47a},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-17. 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 Morgan Creek Foundation'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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