Norcross Foundation Inc.

The Norcross Foundation Inc. is a small, family-controlled Jacksonville, FL private foundation established in 2013-2014 by Gary A. Norcross, former Chairman, President, and CEO of FIS (Fidelity National Information Services), and his wife Amy. With four family members serving as uncompensated officers (Gary as President/CEO, Amanda M. Norcross as Treasurer, Sara K. Norcross as Secretary, William M. and John A. Norcross as Directors), this is a hands-on, non-institutional funder rather than a staffed program office. The IRS record marks `preselected_only: true` and `application_instructions: none`, and the Foundation has no dedicated grants portal — this is materially confirmed by web research: no application form, RFP, or public grant cycle could be located anywhere. In practice, the Foundation gives almost exclusively to organizations already connected to Gary and Amy Norcross's personal and professional network — his University of Arkansas alma mater, his Phi Delta Theta fraternity, Jacksonville institutions tied to his 34-year FIS career and board service (YMCA of Florida's First Coast, KIPP Jacksonville, Cathedral Arts Project), and health causes (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, CureSearch) that appear to reflect personal or family motivation. First-time applicants should not expect a cold-outreach path to succeed. The realistic route in is relationship-building: board service, event sponsorship, or introductions through one of the ~20 organizations the Foundation already funds repeatedly (average 2.5 grants per top grantee, indicating multi-year renewal rather than one-time gifts). Once a relationship exists, proposals should be direct, personal, and tied explicitly to outcomes (scholarships funded, students served, research milestones) rather than generic capacity-building asks — this matches the purpose language on nearly every recorded grant ("scholarships," "support for research and treatment," "fund operations").

Across 53 recorded grants totaling $5,293,304 (multi-year cumulative), the average grant is $99,874, and the Foundation's own stated typical range is $10,000-$400,000 with a median of $120,500 (n=10 recent). The largest single-recipient totals are concentrated: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ($999,000 across 3 grants, support for research and treatment), CureSearch for Children's Cancer ($666,666 across 2 grants), Walloon Lake Trust & Conservancy ($522,472 across 4 grants, a Michigan watershed conservation cause reflecting a family second-home tie), The Baylor School ($470,000 across 4 grants, scholarships), and University of Arkansas Foundation ($400,000 in a single grant to its CARE Endowment Fund — matching Gary Norcross's alma mater). Geographically, Florida dominates recipient count (30 of 53 grants, or 57%), with Michigan (5), Tennessee (4), New York (3), Massachusetts (3), and single-digit counts in Maryland, Ohio, Arkansas, and Texas rounding out the `geographic_focus` states (FL, MI, TX, AR, TN) recorded in the Foundation's own data. By purpose, education/scholarships is the largest identifiable category (Baylor School, Bolles School, Phi Delta Theta Foundation, Thrive Scholars, KIPP Jacksonville, Institute for Citizens & Scholars — combined well over $1.1M), followed by health/medical research (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, CureSearch, American Heart Association — over $1.1M) and Jacksonville community/faith institutions (YMCA First Coast $382,500, St. John's Presbyterian Church $315,000, Cathedral Arts Project $105,000). Annual giving has been volatile and tied to investment performance: total giving peaked at $2,604,546 in FY2021 (on $5.28M total revenue, boosted by $2.3M net investment income) and fell to $887,479 in FY2023 as investment income and contributions normalized. Total assets have held steady near $11.5M-$12.9M since 2019, and officer compensation is $0 in every filed year — 100% uncompensated family governance.

The Norcross Foundation sits among a cluster of similarly sized, single-family private foundations with assets in the $11.5M-$11.6M range, all classified under Philanthropy & Grantmaking. Compared to these peers, Norcross gives at the higher end of the range in dollar terms but, like its peers, is not a foundation grant-seekers can access through open applications.

All six foundations cluster tightly on asset size (within a $10,500 band), which is a strong signal these are small, closely-held family vehicles rather than institutional grantmakers — none maintain the staff or public infrastructure that mid-size community or corporate foundations do. Norcross stands out for having the most publicly traceable grant history and a named, identifiable primary contact (Gary Norcross) with an active civic profile, making warm-introduction strategies more viable here than with most of its peers.

No new grant announcements, leadership changes, or program launches were identified for 2025 or 2026 — consistent with a Foundation that does not issue press releases about its giving. The most recent traceable activity is from the Foundation's FY2023 Form 990 (filed data reflected in this profile), showing $810,500 in grants paid against $887,479 in total giving and $1,383,261 in total revenue, with total assets of $12,835,008. The most recent public-facing activity involving the Norcross family dates to 2023-2024: Amy and Gary Norcross were named 2023 Guardians of the Arts by Jacksonville's Cathedral Arts Project (April 2023), and Gary Norcross received Phi Delta Theta's Nance-Millett Free Enterprise Award in 2024, both of which reinforce — rather than change — the Foundation's established giving pattern toward arts education and his fraternity's diversity/first-generation programming. Gary Norcross retired as FIS Chairman/CEO after joining the company in 1988 and leading it through major acquisitions (Worldpay, SunGard, Metavante); his post-retirement civic bandwidth (board seats at University of Arkansas's business school, Guardian Life Insurance, YMCA of Florida's First Coast, and KIPP Jacksonville) is the clearest available signal of where Foundation attention is likely concentrated going into 2026, even absent formal announcements.

There is no open application process — `application_instructions` is explicitly "none" in IRS-sourced data, `preselected_only` is true, and no grants portal, RFP, or LOI form exists on any indexed source. Do not submit a cold proposal; it is very unlikely to be reviewed. The single highest-leverage strategy is relationship access: because all five officers are Norcross family members with no program staff, every grant decision runs through Gary or Amy Norcross personally. Organizations should look for an existing point of connection — a board seat, volunteer relationship, or affinity with Gary Norcross's own biography (University of Arkansas alumnus, 34-year FIS/Jacksonville executive, Phi Delta Theta member, YMCA/KIPP/Cathedral Arts Project board history) — before attempting outreach. Where a connection exists, the ask should be specific and outcome-based (a named scholarship, a research grant tied to a disease area, a capital or program need with a clear dollar figure) rather than general operating support appeals, since even the Foundation's "fund operations" grants (St. John's Presbyterian Church, Teach For America Jacksonville, Guardian Catholic School) tend to be modest ($10,000-$105,000) compared to its named, purpose-specific grants ($400,000-$999,000 lifetime). Grant sizes cluster from $10,000 to $400,000 per gift (Foundation-reported median $120,500), so calibrate the ask to that range rather than assuming eligibility for seven-figure single gifts. Because total giving tracks investment performance (down from $2.6M in 2021 to $887K in 2023), expect capacity to be tighter in years following market downturns — timing an approach to a strong market year may improve odds. A common mistake to avoid: treating this as a typical community or corporate foundation with a published cycle — Jacksonville nonprofits researching this Foundation online will find almost no public guidance, and that absence is itself the signal that direct, personal relationship-building is the only real channel in.