The Kenan Family Foundation
The Kenan Family Foundation is a private foundation based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Its 2025 filing reports 22 grants totaling $395,000 to charitable organizations.
The Kenan Family Foundation at a glance
In short: The Kenan Family Foundation gave $395K across 22 grants in 2025 (avg $18K), mostly in North Carolina. 0% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $395,000
- +3.9% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 22
- -12.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $17,955
- +18.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $15,000
- Total assets
- $5,181,146
- -1.3% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 0% first-time grantees (0 of 19, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- North Carolina (67% 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 Kenan Family Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests.
- Contact
Mailing address: 100 Europa Drive Suite 525, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Phone: (919) 967-0618
Website: https://kenancharitabletrust.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who The Kenan Family Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Bridge 21 Park City Corp ($50K). Together the top 10 received $315K.
Grant Size Distribution
131 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 128 grants of 131 (98%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2025, 67% of grant dollars went to recipients in North Carolina, 16% to California, 16% to Utah, and 1% to Georgia.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 22 itemized grants.
Cities
Is The Kenan Family Foundation open to new grantees?
0%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 0 of 19 grantees (0%) were first-time recipients. With only 19 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 5 points. How we count
- 95% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+4%). Method
- In 2025 it paid out 92% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. 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 $308K (2021) to $395K (2025). In 2025 it made 22 grants totaling $395K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge 21 Park City Corp Park City, UT | Director's Discretionary Fund | $50,000 |
| Trinity School Durham, NC | Designated for Security | $40,000 |
| UNC at Wilmington Foundation Wilmington, NC | Owen G. Kenan Fellowship Endowment | $35,000 |
| Singing on Grandfather Mountain Chapel Hill, NC | Operations | $30,000 |
| Canal Alliance San Rafael, CA | Director's Discretionary Fund | $25,000 |
| Duplin County Board of Education Kenansville, NC | Liberty Hall Restoration | $25,000 |
| St Stephens Epsicopal Church Durham, NC | CHOIR | $25,000 |
| Compass Family Services San Francisco, CA | Operations | $20,000 |
| Duke University Durham, NC | Dr. Carl Berg Hepatology Education Fund | $15,000 |
| Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation Linville, NC | General Needs | $15,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The Kenan Family 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 | $5,181,146 | $369,024 | $439,008 | $395,000 | 22 | $410,833 | $345,510 | $445,697 |
| 2024 | $5,251,123 | $404,310 | $426,782 | $380,000 | 25 | $392,368 | $379,929 | $416,628 |
| 2023 | $5,273,602 | $439,977 | $382,173 | $360,000 | 27 | $366,148 | $424,695 | $370,914 |
| 2022 | $5,215,794 | $197,790 | $400,807 | $380,000 | 32 | $386,030 | $183,013 | $375,342 |
| 2021 | $5,418,815 | $229,008 | $364,598 | $308,000 | 25 | $313,643 | $209,429 | $379,799 |
| 2020 | $5,554,427 | $2,106,787 | $351,262 | $320,000 | 26 | — | $2,088,058 | $309,532 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Kenan Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $446K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the foundation made 22 grants totaling $395,000. Grants ranged from $2,500 to $50,000, with a median grant of $15,000. Among the largest awards were $50,000 to Bridge 21 Park City Corp for a director’s discretionary fund; $40,000 to Trinity School for security; $35,000 to UNC at Wilmington Foundation for the Owen G. Kenan Fellowship Endowment; and $30,000 to Singing on Grandfather Mountain for operations.
Other notable awards included $25,000 each to Canal Alliance for a director’s discretionary fund, Duplin County Board of Education for Liberty Hall restoration, and St. Stephens Episcopal Church for its choir. Canal Alliance describes its work as serving Marin’s extremely low-income immigrant community; Compass Family Services, which received $20,000 for operations, says it helps homeless families and families at imminent risk achieve housing stability, economic self-sufficiency, and well-being. The foundation also gave $10,000 to Reality Ministries, which describes itself as serving people with developmental disabilities, and $10,000 to National Ability Center, which says it supports people with disabilities through sport, recreation, and educational programs.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Elizabeth Kenan Howell as president and director; Annice Hawkins Kenan as vice president and director; Owen Gywn Jr as director; Thomas S Kenan III as vice president, treasurer, and director; and Roberta Sterling Kenan as director.
The Kenan Family Foundation is led by Elizabeth Kenan Howell, President & Director on every filing since 2020; none of the 5 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Elizabeth Kenan Howell
President & Director
On filings since 2020
No compensation reported
Annice Hawkins Kenan
Vice President & Director
On filings since 2020
No compensation reported
Owen Gywn Jr.
Director
On filings since 2020
No compensation reported
Roberta Sterling Kenan
Director
On filings since 2020
No compensation reported
Thomas S. Kenan III
Vice President, Treasurer & Director
On filings since 2020
No compensation reported
Former officers (1)
- Former: Elizabeth Price Kenan (2020–2022) — Director
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 The Kenan Family Foundation
How much does The Kenan Family Foundation give each year?
The Kenan Family Foundation gave $395K across 22 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $380K across 25 grants.
What is The Kenan Family Foundation's typical grant size?
The Kenan Family Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $15,000, and its average grant was $17,955, across 22 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Where does The Kenan Family Foundation give grants?
The Kenan Family Foundation gives mostly in North Carolina: 67% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were California (16%) and Utah (16%). The most frequent recipient cities were Durham, NC (7 grants), Chapel Hill, NC (4 grants), Park City, UT (3 grants) and San Francisco, CA (2 grants).
Does The Kenan Family Foundation give general operating support?
Occasionally: 5% of The Kenan Family Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (1 of 22) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Recurring purposes include "Operations" (3 grants).
Who are The Kenan Family Foundation's largest grantees?
The Kenan Family Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Bridge 21 Park City Corp ($50,000), St Stephens Epsicopal Church ($40,000 across 2 grants) and Trinity School ($40,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 33% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Kenan Family Foundation?
The Kenan Family Foundation reported $5.2M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $411K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $446K (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.
How do I apply for a grant from The Kenan Family Foundation?
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is The Kenan Family Foundation's EIN?
The Kenan Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 58-1587972. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Does The Kenan Family 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
(2)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 13, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The Kenan Family Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-kenan-family-foundation-morg_e3d0a41b6df448c3a0bd7990d197dfd3
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_581587972_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The Kenan Family Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-kenan-family-foundation-morg_e3d0a41b6df448c3a0bd7990d197dfd3},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-15. 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 Kenan Family 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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