The NCCF Endowment

NCCF is dedicated to rural North Carolina and provides extensive philanthropic resources to 60 communities across our state, including those outside of major metropolitan areas. These extensive philanthropic services come at significant cost. When our founder Lewis R. Holding created the North Carolina Community Foundation an operating endowment was also established to ensure that we can always achieve our mission to inspire North Carolinians to make lasting and meaningful contributions to their communities.

The operating endowment was established with investments and support from some of our state’s most prominent banks, corporations and philanthropists. It is invested and grows along with other endowed funds held at NCCF.

The NCCF Endowment ensures our sustainability and demonstrates our belief in the importance of long-term permanent philanthropic assets for nonprofit organizations like us to weather varying economic and market conditions. Our endowment provides fundholders and legacy donors with assurance we will carry out their charitable intentions in perpetuity.

About one-fifth of our annual operating budget comes from the endowment. This frees up our team to focus on fulfilling our founding vision of supporting philanthropy in rural North Carolina rather than fundraising.

Our affiliates and fundholders benefit from a range of professional services, including asset management; resource development; grantmaking; community leadership; and legal, financial and marketing assistance. Without the endowment we could not provide these services without charging additional fees.

The endowment also allows our team to respond when North Carolinians need our help. NCCF activated its Disaster Relief Fund in response to disasters in rural North Carolina that require a long-term recovery effort, such as Hurricane Florence in 2018. We have raised and distributed approximately $5 million to charitable organizations since the fund began in 1996.
Similarly, we created the North Carolina Healing Communities Fund to assist organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly $5.5 million was raised and distributed over two years.

Without the endowment, our team could not support nonprofits doing long-term disaster recovery work in our communities.

We will never outpace the needs in our state, but we must ensure NCCF’s roots remain strong enough to support our mission and sustain our vision.

We know we will need resources to fuel our continued growth in the years to come. Our extensive state footprint comes at a cost, and we face growing technology and staffing demands. We aim to grow our endowment to $30 million by 2026 to continue to support North Carolina without wavering.

By investing in our organization’s endowment, you are investing in North Carolina’s philanthropic infrastructure and NCCF’s legacy. You will help ensure that we are well- positioned to engage donors in supporting North Carolina’s communities, make grants that meet changing needs, and bring people together to address the most pressing concerns – and opportunities.