The Norfolk Southern Foundation concentrates its giving into a very small number of large grants, providing unrestricted operational support to a handful of partner organizations. The foundation appears to prioritize sustaining core partners (including repeat grants to the same recipient) rather than making many small, program-specific awards. Its pattern is consistent with corporate foundations that fund a few major national or regional partners whose names are not disclosed in this dataset.
Highly concentrated: three grants totaling nearly $14M, two grants to the same recipient and one to another. The foundation gives few, large unrestricted grants and appears to favor repeat funding over broad, distributed giving.
Norfolk Southern Foundation’s recent giving is dominated by very large unrestricted operating grants, including a $7.45 million award in 2024 and a $4.39 million award in 2025, both marked “oper support unless otherwise noted.” That pattern points to a funder that sustains a small set of partner organizations with core funding rather than spreading dollars across many smaller awards. The foundation also appears to repeat support to the same recipients across years, reinforcing ongoing relationships instead of one-time project grants. Its publicly described programs extend beyond core support into scholarships, workforce development, community resiliency, disaster recovery, infrastructure, and safety initiatives tied to Norfolk Southern’s 22-state network. Managed scholarship and grant programs are part of the mix as well, including the Trades on Track Scholarship and the Thriving Communities Grant. Recent disclosed recipients in Georgia include Atlanta-based and other state-listed partners, showing that the foundation’s large-scale philanthropy and its programmatic offerings are both anchored in the areas served by Norfolk Southern.
Workforce development appears in multiple channels. The Trades on Track Scholarship provides $5,000 awards to vocational students within Norfolk Southern’s 22-state network, with eligible uses that include tuition, equipment, tools, and related expenses. The Thriving Communities Grant also includes workforce development among its stated purposes, alongside sustainability and community resiliency. Community resilience is another clear theme. The Community Disaster Relief Grant supports recovery after severe weather events affecting communities in the network, and current applications are for nonprofits supporting recovery from the recent Georgia wildfires. Public safety is a third area, through the Safety First Grant, which supports organizations that directly provide safety services or run programs promoting safe behavior, including first responders. Infrastructure support also appears through Infrastructure Grant Opportunities for community projects along Norfolk Southern rail network communities.
The foundation’s disclosed grant sizes are very large: the 25th percentile is $3,391,490, the median is $4,745,017, and the 75th percentile is $6,098,544. That distribution fits a grantmaker that concentrates dollars in a small number of substantial awards rather than many modest ones. The recent-grant pattern also suggests continuity, with repeated support to the same recipient over multiple years and broad operating support language attached to the awards. Norfolk Southern Foundation is a corporate foundation, and its active programs include both open-application grants and non-open programs such as infrastructure and scholarship/fellowship funding. Several programs accept unsolicited applications, while others are not open to unsolicited requests.
$4.4M
$730K
$4.1M
$4.4M
Most grants fall between $3.4M and $6.1M, with a median of $4.7M.
25th Percentile
$3.4M
Median
$4.7M
75th Percentile
$6.1M
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Notable grantees: NA (received 2 grants totaling $9,490,034), Available upon request (received $4,393,589)
The foundation gives locally, and all disclosed recipient-country data is in the United States. Georgia is the top state by grant count, and 100% of grants in the available distribution go to recipients in the HQ state. Recent recipients include Atlanta, GA, and other Georgia-based entries listed as GA. Program geography is broader in description, reaching Norfolk Southern’s 22-state network and communities along its rail network, but the actual disclosed grants in this dataset are all domestic and concentrated in Georgia.
Its named programs cover vocational scholarships, workforce development, sustainability, community resiliency, disaster recovery, community safety, infrastructure, and scholarship/fellowship funding. The active programs include Trades on Track Scholarship, Thriving Communities Grant, Community Disaster Relief Grant, In-Kind Donation Grant, Safety First Grant, and Infrastructure Grant Opportunities.
The foundation’s disclosed grants are large. The 25th percentile is $3,391,490, the median is $4,745,017, and the 75th percentile is $6,098,544, which indicates that most awards cluster in the multi-million-dollar range.
The available grant data is concentrated in the United States, with all disclosed recipient-country grants listed as U.S. awards. Georgia is the top state by grant count, and the dataset shows 100% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available upon request | Atlanta, GA | $4,393,589 | 2025 | Operational support unless otherwise noted |
| NA | SEE ATTACHMENT, GA | $7,452,070 | 2024 | OPER SUPPORT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED |
| NA | SEE ATTACHMENT, GA | $2,037,964 | 2023 | OPER SUPPORT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED |
Available upon request
$4,393,589Operational support unless otherwise noted
NA
$7,452,070OPER SUPPORT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
NA
$2,037,964OPER SUPPORT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Current and upcoming funding from Norfolk Southern Foundation that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Organizations must be interested in obtaining Norfolk Southern materials for projects aligned with the company’s focus areas and meet the relevant guidelines and eligibility requirements.
Deadline: Open year-round; no deadline to apply.
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Create a free accountDeadlines and eligibility are summarized from public sources and may change — always confirm the details on the funder's official application page before applying.
