The Earl & Margery Johnson Family Foundation is a small, Dallas-based funder that concentrates its giving on education, providing flexible, unrestricted operating support to local schools and postsecondary access programs. A large share of its recent dollars went to a single K–12 institution (St. Mary’s School), with a smaller grant to a college-access organization, indicating a preference for direct support to educational institutions in the Dallas area.
Highly concentrated: few, relatively large grants with repeat funding to a primary beneficiary; grants are unrestricted general support rather than project-restricted.
The Earl & Margery Johnson Family Foundation has directed most of its recent giving to St. Mary’s School in Raleigh, with two $75,000 unrestricted general grants in 2024 and 2025. That repeated support signals a strong interest in sustaining a private K–12 institution through flexible funding rather than restricted project grants. The foundation’s other recent gifts show a narrower but still clear education-oriented pattern: a $25,000 unrestricted general grant to Higher Ed Works for college-access work, plus smaller grants to local Raleigh organizations such as Holy Trinity Church, Dix Park Conservancy, and Boys & Girls Club of Wake County. Its grantmaking also extends beyond education in a limited way, including emergency support for communities affected by Hurricane Helene and modest gifts to a food pantry and a child-focused nonprofit. The overall picture is of a family foundation that uses unrestricted grants to back institutions and community organizations it appears to know well, with recurring support visible in Raleigh-based recipients and a mix of educational, civic, and relief-related funding.
Education is the clearest theme in the foundation’s giving. It gave $75,000 in unrestricted general support to St. Mary’s School in 2025 and another $75,000 the prior year, then made a $25,000 unrestricted general grant to Higher Ed Works for postsecondary access and college-readiness work. Local institutions also appear in the recent record: Holy Trinity Church received $10,000 in unrestricted general support, and Dix Park Conservancy received $10,000 for its work in Raleigh. The foundation also made a $10,000 unrestricted general grant to Boys & Girls Club of Wake County, showing some support for youth-serving community organizations. Outside education and local civic work, it issued a $7,500 Hurricane Helene relief grant to Second Harvest Food Bank, indicating responsiveness to disaster recovery needs as well.
Typical grants cluster around modest-to-mid-sized awards: the p25 is $5,000, the median is $10,000, and the p75 is $17,500. The recent record also shows a few much larger grants, including two $75,000 awards to the same school in consecutive years, which points to recurring support rather than one-off giving only. Most listed grants are unrestricted general support, with one relief-specific grant and no evidence here of an application-based process. The foundation does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments.
$225K
$540K
$82K
$124K
Most grants fall between $5K and $18K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$18K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in NC.
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Notable grantees: St. Mary’s School, Higher Ed Works
Giving is concentrated in North Carolina, which accounts for the most recipient grants, especially Raleigh. Raleigh recipients include St. Mary’s School, Higher Ed Works, Holy Trinity Church, Dix Park Conservancy, and Boys & Girls Club of Wake County. Outside North Carolina, the foundation’s recent grants also reached New York and Colorado through smaller unrestricted gifts to I Have a Dream Foundation in New York City and Harvest of Hope Pantry in Boulder. All listed recent grants went to U.S. recipients.
Recent grants show a strong emphasis on education and community institutions. Examples include St. Mary’s School for unrestricted general support, Higher Ed Works for college-access work, Boys & Girls Club of Wake County for youth services, and Dix Park Conservancy for local civic work. The foundation also supported Hurricane Helene relief through Second Harvest Food Bank.
Yes. St. Mary’s School received $75,000 in 2024 and another $75,000 in 2025, both as unrestricted general support. That repeated pattern suggests the foundation does support some recipients across multiple years rather than only making one-time grants.
The distribution is centered on smaller awards: p25 is $5,000, median grant size is $10,000, and p75 is $17,500. Recent grants range from $750 to $75,000, with the largest awards going to St. Mary’s School.
Its recent grants are concentrated in North Carolina, especially Raleigh. The recipient list also includes Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, New York City, and Boulder, but Raleigh appears most frequently across the recent grants shown.
The foundation primarily uses unrestricted general support. Recent examples include grants to St. Mary’s School, Higher Ed Works, Holy Trinity Church, Dix Park Conservancy, Boys & Girls Club of Wake County, and I Have a Dream Foundation, all marked unrestricted general, plus one Hurricane Helene relief grant to Second Harvest Food Bank.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST MARY'S SCHOOL | RALEIGH, NC | $75,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WAKE COUNTY | RALEIGH, NC | $10,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| HOLY TRINITY CHURCH | RALEIGH, NC | $10,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK | WINSTON SALEM, NC | $7,500 | 2025 | HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF |
| I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| HARVEST OF HOPE PANTRY | BOULDER, CO | $5,000 | 2025 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| ST MARY'S SCHOOL | RALEIGH, NC | $75,000 | 2024 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| HIGHER ED WORKS | RALEIGH, NC | $25,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| DIX PARK CONSERVANCY | RALEIGH, NC | $10,000 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| UNC HEALTH FOUNDATION | CHAPEL HILL, NC | $1,500 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
| BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WAKE COUNTY | RALEIGH, NC | $750 | 2023 | UNRESTRICTED GENERAL |
ST MARY'S SCHOOL
$75,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WAKE COUNTY
$10,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
$10,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK
$7,500HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF
I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION
$5,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
HARVEST OF HOPE PANTRY
$5,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
ST MARY'S SCHOOL
$75,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
HIGHER ED WORKS
$25,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
DIX PARK CONSERVANCY
$10,000UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
UNC HEALTH FOUNDATION
$1,500UNRESTRICTED GENERAL
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WAKE COUNTY
$750UNRESTRICTED GENERAL