The Carson Foundation
The Carson Foundation is a private foundation based in Pittsboro, North Carolina. In filing year 2025, it reported 17 grants totaling $274,085, with recipients including schools, parks and recreation, a public library, and charitable organizations.
The Carson Foundation at a glance
In short: The Carson Foundation gave $274K across 17 grants in 2025 (avg $16K), mostly in North Carolina. 12% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $274,085
- +20.7% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 17
- +0.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $16,123
- +20.7% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $7,000
- Total assets
- $4,545,388
- +2.3% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 12% first-time grantees (2 of 17, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- North Carolina (99% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to The Carson Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and states that it contributes only to preselected charitable organizations.
- Contact
Mailing address: 321 Seven Island Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312
Phone: (919) 616-6219
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who The Carson Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Wilkes Central High School ($55K). Together the top 10 received $252K.
Grant Size Distribution
88 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 85 grants of 88 (97%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The reported share of 2025 grant dollars by recipient state was North Carolina 99%, Washington, DC 1%, and Colorado 1%. Most listed recipients were in North Carolina.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 17 itemized grants.
Cities
Is The Carson Foundation open to new grantees?
12%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 2 of 17 grantees (12%) 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 $7K; repeat grants $17K. How we count
Medians: $7K first-time, $7K repeat.
- 82% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 66% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 100% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF 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 $155K (2020) to $274K (2025). In 2025 it made 17 grants totaling $274K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wilkes Central High School Wilkesboro, NC | General Support | $55,375 |
| Moravian Falls Elementary Moravian Falls, NC | General Support | $43,600 |
| Parks and Recreation Wilkesboro, NC | General Support | $40,500 |
| Wilkes County Schools North Wilkesboro, NC | General Support | $32,000 |
| Pittsboro Elementary Pittsboro, NC | General Support | $26,495 |
| Central Wilkes Middle School Moravian Falls, NC | General Support | $20,000 |
| Wilkes Community Partnership for Children North Wilkesboro, NC | General Support | $10,000 |
| Denton Public Library Denton, NC | General Support | $9,915 |
| Samaritans Kitchen Wilkesboro, NC | General Support | $7,000 |
| Friends of Rowan Salisbury, NC | General Support | $7,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The Carson Foundation?
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 | $4,545,388 | $454,425 | $351,700 | $274,085 | 17 | $280,885 | $400,884 | $279,789 |
| 2024 | $4,442,663 | $691,223 | $304,431 | $227,000 | 17 | $234,500 | $644,440 | $260,737 |
| 2023 | $4,054,545 | $590,266 | $279,416 | $220,000 | 17 | $230,000 | $547,987 | $235,813 |
| 2022 | $3,743,565 | $346,891 | $223,894 | $164,950 | 16 | $174,950 | $303,397 | $229,341 |
| 2021 | $3,620,837 | $1,416,970 | $239,768 | $194,110 | 21 | $199,110 | $747,599 | $212,150 |
| 2020 | $3,026,898 | $107,239 | $197,596 | $155,450 | 18 | — | $44,998 | $171,171 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Carson Foundation reported a distributable amount of $280K 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
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for educational institutions, parks and recreation, and community organizations. Among its grantees, Happy Dog Ranch Foundation describes its mission as providing life-skills training, education, and holistic healing methods for individuals with specified needs, including at-risk youth in Colorado. Share Our Strength describes its mission as helping communities feed children through its No Kid Hungry campaign and addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the foundation gave 17 grants totaling $274,085. Grant amounts ranged from $1,500 to $55,375, with a median grant of $7,000. The largest listed grants were $55,375 to Wilkes Central High School, $43,600 to Moravian Falls Elementary, $40,500 to Parks and Recreation in Wilkesboro, $32,000 to Wilkes County Schools, and $26,495 to Pittsboro Elementary. Each was listed for general support.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Bryant Carson as president, and Steven D. Carson and Teresa C. Wyche as vice presidents.
The Carson Foundation is led by Bryant Carson, President since 2022 (on filings since 2021); 1 of 3 officers listed in 2025 is compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Bryant Carson
President
Acting President → President, 2022
On filings since 2021
4 hrs/week
$5K (2021) → $10K (2025)
Steven D. Carson
Vice President
President → Vice President, 2022
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Teresa C. Wyche
Vice President
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
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.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $10K, to Bryant Carson (President).
Frequently asked questions about The Carson Foundation
How much does The Carson Foundation give each year?
The Carson Foundation gave $274K across 17 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $227K across 17 grants.
What is The Carson Foundation's typical grant size?
The Carson Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $7,000, and its average grant was $16,123, across 17 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Carson Foundation that year got $7K on average.
Where does The Carson Foundation give grants?
The Carson Foundation gives mostly in North Carolina: 99% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Wilkesboro, NC (5 grants), Moravian Falls, NC (2 grants), North Wilkesboro, NC (2 grants) and Denton, NC (2 grants).
Does The Carson Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 100% of The Carson Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (17 of 17) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are The Carson Foundation's largest grantees?
The Carson Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Wilkes Central High School ($55,375), Moravian Falls Elementary ($43,600) and Parks and Recreation ($40,500), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 51% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Carson Foundation?
The Carson Foundation reported $4.5M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $281K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $280K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does The Carson Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for educational institutions, parks and recreation, and community organizations. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The Carson Foundation?
The foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funds and states that it contributes only to preselected charitable organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is The Carson Foundation's EIN?
The Carson Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 46-3674377. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Does The Carson Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(6)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS September 9, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS September 10, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS October 20, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS July 23, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS November 11, 2025)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 18, 2026)
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The Carson Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 13, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-carson-foundation-morg_ac452207eed34636a7a9e73a3423c56f
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_463674377_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The Carson Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-carson-foundation-morg_ac452207eed34636a7a9e73a3423c56f},
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 The Carson 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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